Happy Birthday, Jaron!

Jaron turned the big 3-5 this year!

The night before his birthday, Meli offered to take ALL FIVE of the kids so that we could go out to celebrate.  It was wonderful!!  It was the first time we've been out alone since Adelyn was born!  We went to a little authentic Mexican place and it was delicious.

Instead of cake, Jaron requested chocolate mousse cups like we had at a restaurant on the Plaza in KC years ago. Of course my rendition didn't hold a candle to the chocolate bags and raspberry mousse made at the restaurant but it ended up being super easy and really fun to make!

Haha- I couldn't get a picture without eager little hands in the way!

 This is his "I'm so happy I'm older" face.

 Amongst a few other things, we got him some boxing gloves to go with the boys' that they got for Christmas.  Fun times around here, let me tell ya!

If only that game face of Jaron's were a little clearer! :D

Eli's Baptism

I had strep throat over Christmas and Adelyn had pneumonia so we ended up not going to Jaron's parents' as we had planned.  At the last minute, we decided to baptize Eli in Idaho Falls so that we were the only ones who had to travel.  We were in Jaron's parents' ward for almost a year in the middle of medical school so the people were as familiar to us as the people here in Twin Falls.

It was stake baptisms so it was a little impersonal.  I think there were six kids in total being baptized. Jaron baptized and confirmed him.  Ben and Melissa came, as well as Grandma and Grandpa and James.  Alissa's family ended up being sick and not being able to make it.  After the baptism we gathered for a lasagna dinner in honor of Eli!

We snapped a few pictures but, by golly, it is tough to get one where everyone is looking decent!

 I sure love this crazy bunch!!

Happy Birthday, Eli!

Eli turned 8 in December!

On his actual birthday we had a few cupcakes and opened family presents.

 I always give my kids two options for their birthday parties: either a big friend party at home or an activity or dinner with two friends outside the home.  Eli chose to take two friends to Laser Mania for mini golf, laser tag, and arcade games.  

Before we left, we had a minecraft inspired dinner at home.

This is what a cake in minecraft looks like and Eli loved the idea of doing one for his party. I tried out marshmallow fondant for the first time and had a blast.  It was shockingly easy to make and was so fun to use!  It tastes terrible, however! Haha.

 The two friends Eli chose were Olivia and Fisher.

I'm so sad that I forgot to take my camera to laser mania! It was our first time playing and even I had a blast!

Eli is an incredible kid.  He is kind to everyone and takes time to make little kids his friends, which is so sweet.  Eli loves video games, nerf guns, and Beyblades.  He still loves to dress up as a superhero and I love that. :)  This kid is a monkey and can scale stuff that's incredible.  Eli has gotten good at saving his money and has even more money in the bank than Alden.  He loves boardgames that deal with money and precious gems. It used to be shiny things he saved on the street - now he loves accumulating game wealth.  I tell ya, one day this kid will be rich! :D  We sure love you, Eli!!

Christmas 2015

Christmas this year was pretty non-stressful.  I personally had a tough summer and fall so for Christmas I decided to choose our most favorite traditions, made a point to do them, and then let the rest go.   I just didn't have the mental energy! It probably helped that we did almost all of our shopping on Amazon, the bulk of it in the after Thanksgiving sales.

We are pretty laid back about our decor, too.   We were going to go chop down another tree but Jaron didn't have a day off in December until the 12th.  On the 5th, I told him I didn't want to wait anymore and we went and got an inexpensive tree at Home Depot! :D  The kids pretty much decorated it after I put on the lights.

 Good work, kiddos!

We went and saw the mall Santa but once again they wouldn't let me take a picture.   The boys didn't really seem to care whether they saw Santa or not but we went when they were home anyway.  Alden sat beside santa and told him he wanted a rip stick (Santa was like, "Lipstick?!?!" Hahaha! :D), Eli wouldn't go near him, Gracen stood by him but didn't know what to ask for, and Reed wouldn't get out of the stroller.  All in all, a successful Santa visit, I'd say.

 Of course we made our traditional gingerbread houses, which is always a lot of fun!

 Reed fell asleep and...we didn't wake him up. It was all just so much easier with him sleeping! Haha.

 Every year it's a struggle to get a picture of Jaron's finished product before he smashes it.  This year I wasn't fast enough. 

 We did wake up Reed - when we were getting close to being done ours.

He...pretty much just ate candy.  Let's just say that very little actually ended up on his house!

 My house!

 Our little gingerbread village gets one day.  The kids are allowed to eat off them as they wish and then it's into the trash they go. Just too much mess and sugar!

 We gave the kids $15 for their sibling gifts this year and opened them on Christmas Eve.  

 On Christmas morning, Gracen and Alden were up turning on lights at 3 AM!!  I told them to go back to bed but I kept hearing them so I'm not sure they slept anymore.

 I got out of bed around 6 and the kids opened their stockings.

 Fussy, even on Christmas!

 We re-wrapped a Fart Blaster (think Despicable Me) that we'd gotten at Jaron's residents' white elephant exchange.  I must say, it's probably been the most used Christmas gift!

 We have become quite the board game playing family but we maaay have gone over the top here. Our friends helped - everyone who got us something got us a board game. :D

 The aftermath.

 Gracen got an easel and I was honored that one of her first projects on it was a portrait of me while I did the dishes! :)

We had the missionaries over again but it was only for a short time.  They came over at 10, opened from gifts from us, had cinnamon buns, and shared a Christmas message with us.  I thought it was great to have a spiritual message in the middle of Christmas morning - definitely going to be a tradition.