Friends Forever

Paige and Preston have been such a joy lately. They play all day long and have a great time together. I was downstairs yesterday watching them run around and around a chair in the living room. I could feel air blowing on me from them running and told them they're my fan, so they ran even faster and laughed the whole time. It's been fun watching them grow up and grow closer to each other. They truly are each other's best friend.

We went to check on them the other night at about 1:00 in the morning. This is what we found. Is there anything more precious?

Paige has greatly missed her friend, Dannika, who moved last summer. They loved dressing up. Paige had me take this picture of her in Preston's spider costume from two years ago to send to Dannika. I was surprised she could fit into it. It's her most recent favorite. And Preston didn't want to be left out. He is dressed up in his favorite dog jams. We haven't heard a response from Dannika yet, but we hope she knows we love and miss her.

Ahhhhh ... Sisters!

I hope no one will mind indulging me as I post several pictures of myself and my sisters. I can't imagine being a part of any other family. My family is my strength and I am so grateful for them. This is my sister Lisa, who moved back from Alaska a while back. We're so glad she and her family are back. We missed them.These pictures were taken at our girl's breakfast out, where we exchanged Christmas candies and enjoyed each other's company. We always laugh a lot at these get-togethers. It is very much needed and enjoyed by all. Michelle, Lisa and Teresa are laughing at our funny faces. I only got one funny face picture on my camera. It's just a thing we like to do to make each other laugh ... who can make the ugliest face.I couldn't resist posting an example. I won't say who these girls are. Maybe you can guess.Another good laugh was listening to Michelle explain the kind of blueberry pancakes she desired. She made sure the waitress understood she wanted LOTS of blueberries. We jokingly made comments like, "Add only enough batter to hold the blueberries together and nothing more", or "I want the blueberries to burst in my mouth at precisely the right moment." I couldn't resist taking a picture of Michelle eating her blueberries held together by minimal batter. I'm sure she enjoyed every mouthful.

And here is to you what appears to be a bunch of ladies you may or may not know, but to me they represent great love, loyalty, compassion and service. Ten women who are very dear to my heart. And so you know, I include as a sister my mom, my sister-in-law, Denise and my niece, Callie, who was able to attend this year.

And last but not least here are Cathy and I. We sat next to each other and had a blast.

Christmas 2008

We got most of our Christmas memories this year on videotape. Here are a couple of highlights. This is a nice 'before the mess' picture of most of what the kids got this year. As I said before, we overspent. I'd like to have a smaller Christmas next year. Hopefully I can get Doug to agree. Other than that, it was nice and we had a fun morning.I got the 2 HAM radios I asked for from 'Santa', along with several other things. This year Paige got into the gift giving festivities and helped dad at Bath and Body Works to get the perfect smelling lotions and potions for mom. She is now beginning to use the lotions and potions after her baths. And so it begins ... Doug got his weights - to 'PUMP him up' (Say it like on Hans and Franz from Saturday Night Live to get the full effect).

Paige got the Thumper she reminded us about every day until Christmas (Thank you Cynthia ... I mean Santa). Santa also thought it would be nice for Paige to have a Sleeping Beauty dress, tiara and shoes. Sleeping Beauty is her favorite princess. I think she's a beautiful princess even without the dress, but it sure is fun to have it, don't you think?

Preston was thrilled beyond belief as he opened present after present of Thomas trains and accessories. Here he is jumping for joy ... or is that just what he does? Yeah, he pretty much jumps on the couch any chance he gets. So whether it's joy over his gifts or joy in general, we're glad he's happy.

Doug's Extended Family Christmas Party

Preston wouldn't get into this picture with us, but here's proof we were there. Michelle, Brady and Doug.

Grandma gives all the grandkids pajamas for Christmas eve. Here they are preparing to open their gifts. Pictured from left to right is Preston, Brady, Bricen, Baylee, Grandma (being suffocated), Kaislee, Paige, Austin, Jaxen (in front), Cortnee, Jake (Kirstie's boyfriend), Kirstie and Jace. It's a fun tradition. All the kids put on their pj's for the rest of the night. Thank you, Grandma.

Paige and Preston are showing off their new pj's. Preston's only wearing the pants.
After a fun present opening activity, we found Baylee and several of the kids in the corner reading stories. How cute!! From back to front are Charlie, Paige, Cortnee, Preston and Baylee.

Brian is doing very well after his accident last year. I don't think I've posted about that. He just about died in a snowmobiling accident. We are very happy to have him with us. He's a great dad and friend. We love you, Brian. He's standing here with his son, Jaxen.

And not to be left out are Paula and Lindsey. I have heard that Jaxen is always trying to get his mug into pictures. It looks like that may be true because there's his head behind them. Thanks for the smiles, girls.

Bricen and Jaxen are Brian and Lindsey's boys. They are quite the active little men. They make for lots of fun at grandma's house.Doug's brother, Chad. He doesn't want anyone to know, but he's a giving and loving man. I know he would never read my blog, so it's safe to say so. Chad helps us out any time we ask him. We sure love him.Doug is holding the newest member of the family, Kaislee. She has the most contagious laugh. We're so happy she's part of our family.Paige and Cortnee. Cortnee and Kaislee are sisters. Paige and Preston love visiting with them. They always have a great time. Their mom, Michelle, likes to paint Paige's nails and do her hair. Paige loves it so much she sometimes won't let me do it because she wants Michelle to.

I spent a lot of time in grandma's room helping her finish the gift she gave everyone this year. She kept a journal on the family all year and put it into a scrapbook with pictures and gave one to each family. She worked very hard on these books and did a wonderful job. Our book will always be cherished. Thank you, grandma. Here's Paige helping out grandma for a bit.
Travis and Linda. In case you were wondering, BROTHER and SISTER! Geez.Michelle and Linda. These last two were too cute to pass up. We love our family and enjoyed our time spent with them this Christmas.

Who gets to pose?

I'm including this picture of Paige so you can see better what's going on in the video. This is her pose lately and anytime she's in front of the camera this is what she looks like unless I coach her. Now watch as Paige tries to pose in the video with Preston trying to rip her away so he can pose. She does get into pose position a couple of times. I apologize in advance for the video being dark. I would have flipped the light on, but sometimes you have to catch these things as they are happening. I thought it was pretty funny and indicative of a normal day at our home. The kids love to wrestle ... a little too much.

Also, don't adjust your speakers, there's no sound.

My Extended Family Christmas Party

Who has made all this possible? My wonderful father and mother. I love my parents so much and am grateful for their sacrifices for me. I'm grateful they gave me such kind and loving siblings. Each in-law that has joined our family is welcomed and loved in our family. All the grandkids are outstanding. I love my family very much ... can you tell?Nicholas is never lacking in his ability to show his true personality. Who doesn't appreciate someone who can pick their nose with their tongue? (Tongue in cheek) ... I know someone else who can do that, but I'm not telling. Katelyn is as beautiful as ever.I absolutely cannot resist these little babies. Here's Katie. I always ask her if she'll be my daughter and go home with me. She nods her head yes and sits in my lap all content. What a sweetheart. Cathy never lets me take her home. DANG it!!Hayley is equally adorable. She won't agree to let me take her home. I'll keep trying though.

And here's Michelle with her boys, Jonathan, Christopher and Nicholas (Benjamin is already off playing). They are ready and waiting to eat.Denise, Robert and Renee' with Alexandra in the corner. What a satisfying meal - baked potatoes with chili, cheese, olives ... oh wait, scratch the olives. Mama asked daddy to bring everything and he brought a little bowl of green beans instead of the bowl containing 3 cans of chopped olives that mama spent hours cutting up the night before. We love you anyway daddy. He did remember the butter, green onions and sour cream, as well as the extra can of olives mama provided, although there was no can opener. We enjoyed our meal sans olives. Sorry daddy, it was a pretty funny situation at the time. Thank you for providing us with a good laugh. I hope you and mama enjoyed eating the contents of 3 cans of olives all by yourself.Katie, Matt, Cathy and Abbie. Abbie decided to hide under the blanket in this picture. She is the second newest member of our family. Matthew, who is the newest, wasn't able to come to this party. We love him too.Here she is ... what a cutie! I meant Abbie, Cathy. Oh very well, you're a cutie batootie too.

There were little gifts on the tables, which we opened after eating. Inside were various ornaments to decorate. This was a fun and creative time for everyone. Paige liked the bow and made a cute little ornament out of herself.I'm not sure if Preston actually made one or just colored on himself. I guess I got two human ornaments out of this activity.If we had to give a first place in tree decoration I'd give it to Nathan. He spent a lot of time and got as many doodads on his tree as possible. Great job, Nathan!!Oh there we go, proof that Preston DID make an ornament. What a cute boy picture.Adorable Seth. I swear all of the grandkids are adorable. He is working on his snowflake and taking a short break to give us a smile.Here's Lehela, Hazel and Lisa making their ornaments.After decorating for a while we had a talent show where more people than I expected shared their talents. Lisa, Cathy and Renee' sang a beautiful song, which I don't remember the name, but I do remember I liked it.Here grandma is playing for Amanda and Athena to sing.Towards the end of the show Ashley (in blue) and Paige danced for us while we all sang Jingle Bells. They hadn't planned this dance, but got up their courage after so many talents were shared. They did a great job.We had a gift exchange for the kids with inexpensive and fun gifts. This is always a fun part of our yearly Christmas parties. Thank you, Teresa, for talking me into it (I was in charge of the party this year). We had all the kids pick a number and piled all the gifts into the middle of a circle of kids. They got to pick a gift by order of their number. Here's Teresa passing out numbers. See the little bun in her oven? I love seeing pregnant bellies, probably because I wish it were me.

It's fun to watch the excitement of the kids as each gift is opened.

Preston got a Reece's Peanut Butter Cup. He really likes candy. What kid doesn't? He has already opened and eaten it in this picture. He looks quite satisfied.

Who can resist these happy faces? All in all, this year's party was a success.