Memorable Moments of 2012

Our niece, Vikki was hit by a stray bullet while driving.

Zach & Kate both lost their 1st tooth on the same day.

Noah lost his 1st tooth when Dr. Rand pulled it out.

The Lady Bucks made it to the basketball tournament at the auditorium.

My Mom, Aunt Tonia, Patti & I went to Orlando, Florida for Time Out For Women.

The kids & I went to visit the Ellison's on Swan's Island.

Beach Hopping

I took the kids to Fun town/Splash town for the 1st time with my parents, Phil & Aly.

Zach got stung by a bee for the 1st time & discovered he is allergic to bee stings.

Kate started Kindergarten.

Patti, my Grandmother, Luzvie & I went to Springfield, MA for Time Out For Women.

We had a fun Halloween party.

Zoe went to Fright at the Fort for the 2nd time with Caitlin.

We went on a fun hike with the Battaline's on Thanksgiving.

We discovered Duck Dynasty.

Romney the fish & George the hamster came to live with us.

No ER visits!

Toys & Games

We have had so much fun playing with our new toys!  Church was cancelled today because of snow, so we had another full day to play together (reverently of course!).

 Chess has become a favorite around here!

 Marble fun!  90 points...Woo Hoo!

 Connectagon Building Set...Zach's snowflake

 The kids can read at night now!

 Domino Race Set

 Pallina Bamboo Stick Game

 Remote control cars!

My Mom did a lot of her shopping at Hearthsong this year.  :-) 
 

Handiest of them all

Our internet went down yesterday after our driveway was plowed.  Matt called our internet provider and they said they could come fix the problem next Thursday.  Thursday!  That is too many days without the internet!  So Matt went out and did his own temporary fix of the cable and we have internet again. :-)  Thank you college football for motivating him!
I'm in the process of creating a new blog, which captures what this blog is to me.  The new title will be Letters to Utah and you can continue to read about our family at letterstoutah.com.  I'll start writing there on January 1st.  The blog will be under construction for awhile, so be patient with me!  :-)
This blog will go back to being 5 Too Many and it is going to be a blog about decluttering.  I'm excited about this new blog!  Monday - Friday of 2013, I am going to show one item or a group of items that I am simplifying.  My readers who are interested in receiving the item(s) for free can leave a comment telling me how they will use the item, along with their email address.  I will put their name in for a random drawing.  Readers will also be able to leave a link back to their own blog to show what they are decluttering for the day.  Links will earn my readers 2 chances to win the item of the day, if they are interested in it.  This blog is going to be so much fun!
So, I really need my internet to be working right now!

Celebrations

Emily, Eleanor, Zach, Kate, Noah & I went to Govenor's for lunch with my mom to celebrate her last day of work.  She is now retired!
Zoe had a basketball tournament at the high school all day, so she wasn't able to join us.  :-(

Matt & I finally celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary this evening at Bugaboo Creek & the movie theater.  We went to see Les Miserables, which was so good!
A huge THANK YOU to our parents for treating us out tonight!

Snow Day

This is a perfect day to show you the fun snowmen ornaments that Zach & Noah made in Zach's class.

So cute!

Meet George

My parents started calling Emily's hamster George and the name has stuck.  

Ollie

George

 He stuffed his cheeks and then went back to bed.

He is starting to sleep where we can see him and he is out and about exploring more in the early evening.  According to Emily, he was quite active while we were asleep.  George kept waking her up as he exercised.  Can you train a hamster to sleep at night and play during the day? 

Isn't he so cute?!  I love watching him as much as the kids do!

A peak at our Christmas

Right before bed on Christmas Eve, I love to look at the lit Christmas tree with all the presents underneath.

It is a calm before the excitement!

 Santa Gifts

Caroline

Mo...Zach's favorite WALL-E character!

Eleanor received 2 front row seats to a Celtic show at the Collins Center for the Arts in March!

Santa shops at Amazon?

A hamster...all the way from the North Pole!  Emily has named him Ollie.  He has not come out for a picture yet.

Kate has been asking for a baby book for awhile now.

Lovely scarfs from Great Grammie

Kate set aside her new art kit to open this Monster High Doll.  So many wishes came true this Christmas!

2013 Calendar

We love these shirts Grandma!

Zach, Kate & Noah received WALL-E shirts!

New Air Mattresses!  Goodbye green foam pads that leave fuzz everywhere!

I am writing this post on a new laptop from my parents!  WOOHOO!  Matt bought me a Roku, so I can watch a clear picture of Glenn Beck & BYU-TV on our big screen. :-) 
Matt is now enrolled in a welding class and he has $$$ to spend at Amazon. 
We have enjoyed spending this Christmas Day as a family with my parents & my grandmother.  We finished our day with a ham dinner at my parents' house.
I hope you have had a great Christmas, too!

Tomorrow is Christmas!

While watching "I want a dog for Christmas Charlie Brown", Noah heard that everybody has a dog.  He was shocked and complained, "Hey! Everybody in the world has a dog? We don't have a dog!"
Merry Christmas from our deprived children!

Zoe,

Eleanor, Kate, Noah &

Christmas Eve Dinner

Low carb ~ Terriyaki Chicken & lots of carbs ~ Lasagna!

We have had a busy Christmas Eve!  Sibling gifts & other gifts were bought & cookies were made!  We had a nice evening with my parents & my grandmother.  We ate lots of yummy food & we watched the Duck Dynasty Christmas special.  Then we came home to get ready for Santa to come!  We read about the Savior's birth, which reminded all of us why we celebrate Christmas.  We read The Night Before Christmas. Then we watched the animated version of the Grinch, our annual Christmas Eve tradition.
The kids are tucked in bed and I think they have all finally settled down for the night!