NEW YEAR'S EVE

 This year has been one full of lots of house projects, fun trips, and growing experiences.  I can't wait to see what 2023 has in store.  The kids begged us to let them stay up until midnight.  We of course banged pots and pans to ring in the new year at midnight.

MAGGIE & MOMMY AT COSI

 One of Maggie's gifts this year was a date out with Mom.  She and I went to COSI for the day.  We had so much fun and it was nice to give her some one-on-one attention.  We went to the planetarium, the Little kid space, the dinosaur exhibit, the ocean/water area, and the Doc McStuffins exhibit.  We also saw the rat basketball show and the electricity show.  I was very grateful that I could do so much but was very sick the rest of the day and for the next couple of days.

The electricity show

CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES

 Christmas is such a special time with a special spirit.  As the kids are getting older we are starting to make Christmas traditions.  We found a neighborhood that has a ton of Christmas lights and we spend at least a half an hour driving around looking at lights.  The kids love having a night to sleep by the fire with the lights of the Christmas tree.  Joy is the elf that visits the kids and leaves treats or toys.  This year I bought a nativity advent calendar and we took turns putting the pieces up.  We made gingerbread houses with friends.  The sister missionaries came over and helped decorate sugar cookies.  Christmas Eve we had a yummy surf and turf dinner.  We put the drinks in the snow to chill.  We got a little bit of snow but it was so cold that we didn't spend much time outside.  The temperature dropped down to near zero with a wind chill down to -20 degrees. Christmas day was Sunday but because the roads were so icy the services were cancelled.  We were worried about pipes freezing.  Despite our efforts the sink in the master bath froze.  I kept the faucet turned on hoping that the pressure build up from the ice would be let out and the pipes wouldn't burst.  The only problem is that when they un-froze, the drain was frozen.  We didn't know that the water was running full blast and didn't turn it off.  The water wasn't able to drain and spilled out on the floor.  It dripped through the floor/ceiling into the entryway and then down through the floor/ceiling into the basement.  Fortunately, Mike caught it early enough that the only damage was a few water spots on the ceiling in the entryway.  I was gone at the time and came home to buckets and towels, but missed all the excitement.

Christmas Eve morning temperature

The Jarvis family bought for us this year and they sent us some fun wiggle cars.  The kids had fun racing around the house.

MIKE'S BIRTHDAY

 I always enjoy celebrating the birthdays of others, but when I am pregnant it is hard to do as much as I want.  I was feeling a little better so I was able to make a simple dinner and cake.  We are so grateful for Mike and all he does for the family.

BOMBARDED BY CHILDREN

 One afternoon I quietly went to my room to get away and rest alone.  Slowly each of the kids came to my room and got on my bed to read or write in their journal.  Such is the life of a mom I guess.

BRANCH CHRISTMAS PARTY

 The Branch had a Christmas party.  We enjoyed good food, good friends, and even a visit from Santa.  The older kids talked with Santa and got a stocking filled with goodies, but McKenzie wanted nothing to do with it.

GENDER REVEAL

 We got the results of the chromosome testing for the baby.  Thankfully everything was negative and so far there are no complications.  Part of the testing was also to find out the gender of the baby.  It's a girl!  We put pink streamers on the Christmas tree as a surprise for the kids to reveal the gender.  We all thought it was going to be a boy so it was a surprise that it is a girl.

ULTRASOUND

 When I went for my appointment with my OB they weren't able to hear the heartbeat very well, so they decided to do an ultrasound.  All was well with the baby which was a relief.

THANKSGIVING

 Being pregnant and sick meant that I wasn't able to help with Thanksgiving dinner.  Mike's parents left before Thanksgiving but my mom stayed for another week to help out.  If it weren't for her, we wouldn't have had a very good Thanksgiving.  At least the kids were able to do the orange turkeys with gum drops.

SHANE'S BIRTHDAY AND BAPTISM

 It is hard to believe that time has passed so fast that now Shane is 8 years old.  We have been talking about his baptism for a long time now.  He wanted to get baptized on his birthday.  Since it fell during Thanksgiving week we all had the week of of work and school.  His grandparents flew in to celebrate with us.  Shane picked coffee cake for breakfast and taco soup for dinner.  Instead of a cake he requested a fruit pizza.  He was so excited the whole day and it was so fun to celebrate him and support him in his decision to be baptized.  A few weeks before his baptism we took some pictures.  He got some new ties and picked which one he wanted for the pictures and which one he wanted for the baptism.

CUTE KIDS

 Because I'm a mom and think my kids are the cutest ever.  We were at Shane's doctor appointment and I couldn't resist snapping a picture.

PREGNANCIES ARE NOT EASY

 My pregnancies are difficult.  I throw up multiple times a day for 2-3 months.  Thankfully this time Alex and Shane are old enough to help with things like food and dishes.  They can take care of themselves and help some with the younger two girls.  Nonetheless, I still got so sick and dehydrated that I went to my doctor's office to get IV hydration.  I'm grateful that I have good babies and kids with no serious problems.  I pray I don't have serious complications with this baby.

HALLOWEEN

 As always, we went to the Branch/Ward trunk-or-treat.  We also went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood.  I was okay and able to go to the trunk-or-treat.  I ate a little of the chili and cornbread and didn't throw up.  On our designated trunk-or-treat night, however, I did not feel well enough to walk all around the neighborhood.  Mike took the kids and they had a lot of fun.  For their costumes, we went to Goodwill a couple weeks ago to pick out something.  I found a cute bear outfit for Kenzie.  When it came time to dress her up, she did not like it.  She cried and refused to even look at the costume.  After some coaxing I was finally able to get her dressed.  Once she realized what trick-or-treating was, she forgot all about her costume and loved getting all the candy.  The second time I put on her costume she was much more cooperative.  This year we also got each of the kids a pumpkin.  Mike helped Maggie carve her pumpkin but Shane and Alex did their own.  It was a learning experience but they enjoyed doing it by themselves.  Kenzie didn't carve a pumpkin but I got her a little pumpkin.  She loved carrying it around.  Every time we went in or out of the house and she saw it on the porch, she would pick it up and take it with her.  We had to remind her that it was decoration and she had to leave it on the porch.

Alex - Betsy Ross, Shane - pirate, Maggie - cowgirl, McKenzie - bear

WACKY TUESDAY

 The kids had spirit week at school.  One day was wacky day.  The Alex and Shane went all out and dressed very wacky!

SHANE GETS BURIED

 On a random no school day the kids decided to bury Shane under pillows and blankets.

HARVEST TIME

 The weather turned cold and it was forecasting frost so we decided to harvest whatever we could from the garden.  I couldn't believe how much food we had just sitting in our garden.  We certainly couldn't eat it all before it went bad and I wasn't able to preserve any of it so a lot of it ended up going into the compost.  Even though we didn't eat it, it's comforting to know that we have food sitting in our backyard if we need it.

STRONG LIKE A BULL

 Having mostly girls, my mom is particularly proud when one of her girls does something that girls don't normally do (chop the wood, mow the lawn, fix a car, replace the dishwasher, etc).  She'll comment that we are "strong like a bull."  I was surprised (and proud)to see Kenzie pushing Maggie in the pedal car.  She is stronger than she looks!  It's even more impressive to think that she is only 17 months old and only started walking a few months ago.

BABY #5 ON THE WAY

 Mike and I are expecting another baby!  It's always a bitter sweet when I get a positive pregnancy test.  We are excited for another child but know that pregnancies are hard.  There are months that I can't do anything.  Each pregnancy is harder not only on my body but also because there are more children to take care of while I'm pregnant.  I'm also very nervous about losing another pregnancy, so I am very stressed and anxious until the baby is born and all is fine.  Well, here we go again.