Our Christmas...

We have had a great Christmas. Here's is a few of our happenings...

We told the kids we would have a smaller Christmas this year. It's the same thing we have been telling them for the last few years, only then we get carried away and before we know it Christmas isn't so small anymore. Unfortunately, this year we really meant it. I was afraid the kids might be disappointed, but they weren't, and we had a great day.

First we woke up and checked out our stockings...

Then instead of reading the Christmas story from the scriptures, we had the kids perform the nativity as Ken narrated. That was a lot of fun and will become a new tradition.After our at home Christmas pageant, we sat down to a nice breakfast, which is another Christmas tradition. By then it was about 10:00 am and we began to open gifts. This year we let the kids draw names to buy for each other. They were more excited about the gifts they were giving than the gifts they were getting. It was so fun to watch them both give and receive each others gifts. Tyler had Emma's name and after she opened Tyler's gift she exclaimed, "Oh Tyler, it's gorgeous, HUG ME!" We had a great time for the next hour opening presents...

Then we of course played with our new goodies. Which included a new sled for the kids...

These pictures were taken in our front yard...we also took the kids to the Junior High down the street to do a little sledding on a bigger hill. They had a blast!

Grandma Roberts here is a picture of the girls in the new sweaters you sent...

They love them! And I think McKenna looks like such a big girl.

Well I have to go feed a hungry baby now, but I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas! We sure have.

The Studious Student....

In the past year Ken's school has taken a back seat to life. But this semester we are a few credits closer to graduation! Ken passed! Here is a picture of my studious student.
This is Ken studying for his business law class. He's got his chocolate and pop (necessary study aids) so he is good to go. This is what he does each night about the last three weeks before finals. Yes, he crams a semesters worth of studying and tests into the last three weeks. I become a single mom for half of December. But, it's worth it. He passed! And did well! Thank you honey, for working so hard for our family. Good luck next semester, Happy Studying!

Happy Birthday, Michael!

My little brother turned 32 today.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIKE-E-SPIKEE! I thought I'd used one of your old nicknames just to help you feel a little bit younger today. See I am such a nice sister. Hope you have a great day!

My Christmas Treasures...

Last Saturday was our Wolfley family Christmas party. As siblings we drew names to see which family to buy for this year. I just wanted to take a moment to brag about how cool my siblings are. Craig and Julianna drew our families name this year and this is what we got...it's a package way too pretty to open, but we did anyway.

These are a few of the 8 pillow cases that my BROTHER made for our family, each one has our names on it. I love these, they remind me of being at home as a kid, my kids love them too. Instead of a pillow case for Daric, Craig made him a fleece blanket. Which he LOVES to snuggle in.I have mentioned before that although my brothers are not at all feminine, they are oozing with domesticity. (NOT dumb-a**-ticity, dome-esticity...Just clarifying...case my brother thought I was calling him a bad name.) This has at times gotten under my skin, because brothers should not be better homemakers than their sisters, but really I must say that I am proud. Especially if I continue to be the beneficiary of their talents.

Mike and Heather also got crafty and made the kids fun aprons this year. This again makes me think of Christmas's at home as a kid. These are made from towels. So smart! The kids love them!Uncle Mike and Aunt Heather also gave us a gingerbread house. It was a great reason for the kids to use their new aprons. Then there is my talented sister who made each of the scrapbooking sisters a super great tote to hold all our stuff. This is way cool, I'm even more excited now that I have it full. I can see my treasures.

My Dad and Loreen also got in on the action by giving us a framed picture of Christ and this microwave oven warming bag. I'm not sure how much my dad helped sew, but even he knows his way around a sewing machine. I have never seen a bag like this before, but it is cool. I took out some frozen rolls from my freezer and within seconds I had thawed, soft, warm delicious rolls. We had lots of fun and lots of food with lots of people. All of our immediate family but four were able to make it. Their was about 30 of us, 20 of those being children. Here are a few more pics...

Thanks for coming. We love you guys!

I Called In Sick...

Yesterday, like half of America, I had the stomach flu. It started out as a mild upset stomach then quickly progressed to....Oh, my heck, I'm going to die! As I lay in the recliner..dying...I tried to figure out how I was going to make it through my day without...dying..AND take care of my children at home. Then it came to me...it's worth a try I thought. I called Ken at work and called in sick! His employees do it all the time, why not give it a shot. I didn't come right out and beg for him to come home. I just told him I was sick and expected that he would read between the lines. I loathe rejection in the slightest form, so I couldn't put my self on the line like that, but my dear husband came to my rescue. I was able to crawl in bed and sleep a few hours while my...dying...body alternated between burning hot and icy chills. But hey, on the bright side thanks to my frequent trips to the bathroom I did lose 5 lbs. Was that more than you needed to know? Sorry!
Later that evening Ken had to go take a test at UVU, then he had YM's to go to. I was too weak and tired to get out of bed, so my six older children took care of themselves downstairs for 4 hours. Sydney used my cell phone to call me upstairs if she needed anything, (She got tired of coming up and down). They made themselves dinner, cold cereal, ego waffles, and apple juice. They really stepped up to the plate and did a great job watching out for each other. Ken got home around 9:00 and got the kids in bed. I stayed in bed for the rest of the night. This morning before Ken went to work he warned me that the house was a little messy. He said trust me I cleaned a bunch, but it's still messy. When I went down stairs I saw what happens when you leave six kids alone for 4 hours. Oh, well. There was no blood, or broken bones, and only very little screaming. It's all good!
I am thankful for my husband and children, because of them I expect to pull through. Good news, I'm not going to die!

Sydney's State Fair Project

This is Sydney's State Fair project, on Florida. Each of the kids in the 5th grade did research on a different state, then they displayed what they had learned. Sydney worked really hard on her report. I could tell she was really proud of herself. She received an A on her project. Mom and Dad are really proud of you to, Syd. Especially, that you are working really hard on not being so shy, you were able to speak up and share details about Florida as the children in your school came through the state fair. Good job, Syd!

Like Father...Like Son

Daric and Daddy enjoying a snooze together. It didn't take Daric long to figure out he wants to be just like his Dad.