Visit from the Johnston's

We were blessed to live near Beth (Jon's sister) and her family while we lived in Ohio. Beth moved there to help us when Jack was born and after spending Christmas at home in Oregon, felt like it was right to come back. She did and met Jeff Johnston - another medical student at Ohio State. They got married and while living in Ohio had their two little boys, Kyle and Tyler. They are now in St. Louis, MO for Jeff's Anesthesiology residency.

Beth was able to take the boys to Oregon for Thanksgiving and was able to arrange her flight to leave out of Salt Lake. We were able to have them stay with us for a couple of days and we had a great time. Kyle loved playing with Jack's train set and my kids were thrilled to have a baby to hold and Kyle to play with. We were able to go to Temple Square one night and see the lights. It was freezing cold, but it was fun to be with Beth & her kids, Bobby & Sarah and their kids and Tom. Thanks Beth for coming - we miss you guys!

We couldn't believe how much Tyler had grown in the 3 months since we had seen him.

He's such a good baby - we think he looks a lot like Kyle, but he definitely has some Bowen in him too.

Kyle loved this little vacumn - I just need to get the real one out next time!

Hannah, Emily & Tyler

Picking the Perfect Christmas Tree

We love getting our Christmas trees from places where you can saw them down yourself. We were able to find a Tree Farm in Alpine, UT this year, so the day after Thanksgiving, we took the kids and went. They had row after row of pine trees and it was fun to pick one. Jon and I always laugh when it comes to picking out trees because he could spend hours and hours looking for the perfect tree, at the perfect price. Me, on the other hand....show me 10 trees and I will pick one that I like.

We walked down a few rows and found a great tree that we all liked (well, except Lindsey. She really wanted a blue spruce, but we all thought it looked too blue). Then, I waited at the tree with a couple of kids, while Jon walked back to the gate and returned with a guy on a 4-wheeler. We sawed it down, loaded it on the 4 wheeler and they drove the tree to the van. The kids had a great time (other than waiting for us to tie the tree to the roof)!

Then, last night, I was cleaning up dinner, Jon was sleeping and the kids were putting the decorations on all by themselves. I had Christmas music on and it was a moment of perfectness for me to see my 5 little children around the tree putting decorations and candy canes on it. Ah, I love the Christmas season!

Emily, Lindsey & Kate finding our tree

Lindsey

Jack

Emily

Kate

Hannah

Jack, Christmas farm worker, Emily & Lindsey arriving back at the tree

Jon and Emily sawing it down

Kate, man, Jack & Lindsey with the tree loaded and ready to go to the van

Emily & Hannah

Tied on and ready to go!

New Christmas quilts

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is having Christmas blankets. When we were little, our mom made us each a Christmas quilt. We would get them out on Thanksgiving night and then be able to have them on our beds until New Years Day. I've carried that tradition on with my kids and this year, Lindsey and Jack both got new quilts. They were so much fun to make and when I check on them after they have gone to sleep, I just love seeing them snuggled until their blankets.

A Day of Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year! It was such a treat to be back in Utah and be with our family. During the 7 years that we were gone, the kids and I came home for one of those Thanksgivings. We LOVED our Thanksgivings in Ohio and thought of and missed the Rasmussen's & Johnson's. It is such a fun holiday and all of them are so great. I know that we will remember this year for many years to come.

Thanksgiving always starts the day before with pie making. Jon is the pie maker in the family, so he worked with the kids to make 2 pumpkin, 2 chocolate cream and 1 apple pie. They were all delicious! When Jon went to work, the kids and I went to my parent's ward building to help set up for the next day. There were 35 of us all together (parents, brothers, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, missionaries, friends, etc.). We played a fun game of soccer and tag, so the kids had a blast playing.


On Thanksgiving morning, the kids helped decorate sugar cookies to look like turkeys. We got our other cooking assignments done and then our friend, Julie (who moved into our ward about the same time we did) came and we drove to my parent's ward.

My second cousin, Annie, made these darling placecards.

My dad and Uncle Bruce were the turkey carvers.

Julie was so great with our kids. She played with them and helped them with whatever they needed. Thanks again Julie - we LOVED having you with us for the day.

We had a ton of food - including this fruit & dip platter - prepared by my cousin Meg and her husband Jason. You'll notice that the "Y" is crossed out. We have a mix of "Y" and "U" fans in our family.

My parents with my grandma.

Mike and Candy with Candy's grandma Ellen.

John and Becky

Hannah and her grandpa

This picture definitely captures our little devil. Ohhhh, she is a stinker!

After we ate, several people played flag football outside and then came back in for several rounds of lightning. It's definitely a family tradition to play lightning and I think some rounds as many as 25 people played.

Everyone that wanted to could play - as evidenced by the fact that I am holding Ellen's oxygen tank so she could shoot.

This is my Aunt Becky. She is such a joy to be around (as well as her cute kids). She was posing in Candy's heels.

After several hours at the Church, we headed to our house and most everyone was able to come join us there. We ate leftovers, visited, played Dance Dance Revolution, and Mad Gab. We got the Christmas blankets out for the kids (more about that on the next post) and my mom gave them a new coloring book, crayons, night lite, Christmas movie, advent calendar and puzzle.

What a wonderful day - full of delicious food, delicious company and delicious blessings!

Bathing Beauties

Ever since getting her cast off, Kate has really loved and appreciated baths! It's hard to drag her out of the tub after a night time bath, so yesterday she took a nice, long, afternoon bath. As you can see, Hannah thought it looked like fun too. I don't let the kids do bubbles in the house, but I had the thought that the bathroom would be a perfect place for that - so I blew bubbles at the girls while they were in the tub and they had a blast!

Winter Wonderland

Snow came to Utah on Sunday night and we enjoyed the beauty it brings on Monday morning!

Guess who was in the Frosted Flakes?

Thankfully, not a mouse! Just a snack-loving baby, who left some evidence behind!

Sleepy Head

I have always loved looking at my little kids when they sleep. Every single one of them sleep like this when they are little - on their stomach, legs tucked up under them and little bum in the air. So cute.... And then, there's nothing quite like snuggling up to a sleeve of Ritz crackers and taking an afternoon nap!