Christmas Eve Sledding!

On Christmas Eve day, Mick got a wild hair to pull out the 4 wheeler and pull the kids behind it in the snow out in a field across the street from our house. Our very good friends, David and Carrie, were on the same brain wavelength (as always) and had gone out to play in the field too. Thanks heavens Mick has me to "weigh down" the back end of the 4 wheeler to give it traction so it will go in the snow. Isn't he so lucky to have a bigger wife than he is?

Carrie and I decided to brave the tube with David pulling us around. All I could do was laugh as we were going faster and faster. He even almost rammed us into the other 4 wheeler - I seriously thought we were going to nail it, but we only hit it with Carrie's foot. He's a wild man!

This shot says it all. . . he is having a blast!

Bethany and Brittany

I felt like the mom off A Chrismas Story getting Emma all bundled up in her snow clothes to go outside. Hey, but at least she stayed warm! After being a good sport about being pulled around in the sled, she opted for hanging out with dad on the 4 wheeler. She must have figured it was safer there. Or maybe the fact that she didn't have snow flying in her face. Can't say I blame her.

Ariana also voted after a while to hop on the wheeler with Mom and Dad.

My little man.

They couldn't figure out how to fit all 3 of them on the tube, so they just had Bet pile on top of them. Whatever works. . . and it did.

I love this shot because they both have their faces buried to keep them from getting snow all over them. I don't think Ty can even see where he's going his hat is pulled down so far.

My family

My brothers and sisters are some of my favorite people in the whole world. We got together at a family party the Sunday before Christmas and we spent more time with each other than any of the other cousins, aunts and uncles or grandparents. We just plain and simple have way too much fun together.
Alan is my huge teddy bear brother. His hugs just swallow you whole. He is such a sweet guy.

My mom and Kristen (A.K.A. Kita) and me.

Mark and I were best friends growing up. We had so much fun together and our imaginations never stopped.

We had to prove that Beener was there! We sure wish that he was. We all miss him so much. I think Mick did a pretty good job of putting him in there!

Gingerbread Houses

Last year we started a little tradition of decorating gingerbread houses at mom's. I spend more time laughing at everything going on than actually decorating my house. Mick deserted me this year and went in to sleep on the couch. Big bum. Then he comes back at the end to give his 2 cents. It was not wanted. . . let's just say that. Just because the dumb shrubbery tipped over and my wreaths did not look like wreaths! See what happens when the main contractor leaves the job site?

We had a pretty killer fence around our property until Emma got up on the table to help Alan and Emilie by putting sprinkles in their front yard and she mashed it with her butt. It was hilarious. Alan and I were laughing saying mom would have had a heart attack if it had been her house. Hers was perfect in every way. Ty made all the little icecicles hanging from the roof. I did not have the patience for that. He patiently made them all the way around.
The kids are truly like their mother, one piece of candy in the mouth and the next on the house. I think I spilled more of the little candies on the floor than any of the kids put together. Their little house turned out so good. Pretty soon Ty just had the frosting bag up to his mouth squirting it in there for easier access. If I was a frosting person I would have done the same thing. Mom told him to knock it off and he said "but my dad said it was ok." She didn't have much to say to that.

There were sprinkles ALL over the floor. Mom says that next year we get to do it at my house.

Emma helped me build the fence. How ironic considering her butt flattened it so fast. It was cute having her put her little candies in random spots all over.

It was so much fun to do this. I love to spend time w/ my family. It is only my memories and relationships that I will keep with me forever. Alan and Em came w/ Sammy. Chris and Kita were there and Mom. Mark and Shae couldn't make it this year - hopefully next. And I just could never see my dad decorating a gingerbread house. That is not his style whatsoever. :) The funny thing is that I forgot that our houses were in the back of the suburban for a few days and they rode around all over the place. Definitely good times together.

My Little Bro the Marine

My younger brother Brian, sent me an email a few days ago with a couple of pictures. He is serving in Iraq until the first part of March. He was promoted to Sergeant last month. He will never quite know how proud his sis is of him. He is an amazing person with the funnest personality. He makes me laugh repeatedly when I am with him or when I talk to him... and his laugh is contagious. When he called me last month, I squealed like a little kid when I figured out it was him on the line. How would it be to know that your sister adores you that much? We talked for well over an hour. I wish we could talk all the time. He told me the sunsets in Iraq are pretty cool and I told him to send me a pic. Yeah, they are pretty cool.

There is something sobering about seeing my little bro in his camies in front of all these military vehicles. Makes it a reality. My mom said she sat and cried when she saw the picture.


The young women in my ward made cards for all the marines in Brian's plattoon. Here they are showing off the cards they got in their package. He said they were pretty excited to get them. I bet they don't get fun things in the mail hardly ever. My heart goes out to these guys during the holidays. I know that they are all missing their families and want to be here. We sure miss them too. I can't wait til Brian gets home and I can hang out with him again. I love you Brian!

Decorating the tree

The first family night in December the kids were begging us to decorate the Christmas tree. They would have never let us rest until we had done it! I didn't put one ornament on, I just sat watched and took pictures. It was a lot funner that way I thought.

Can poor Emma even see what she's doing with her hair in her eyes? By the end of the day her hair had fallen out of it's clip and being the mother of the year that I am, I had not redone it. It was so cute how she decorated, she hung everything in little clumps. I have not had the heart to move anything further up towards the top where it is ornament deprived. It is special just the way it is.

On tip toe to reach that perfect spot.


This picture makes me laugh. Hana always has the funniest facial expressions. You can read her like a book just by her face (kinda like her mama). She's apparently pleased with the spot she chose.

They even all clapped when good old Dad put the star up on top of the tree. They were so proud of the finished product.

Getting wood or playtime?

We recently put in a woodburning stove in the living room area off the kitchen. So we went up to Mick's parent's cabin and got a truckload of wood for the winter. We've used it every day since we got the wood and it sure is nice, especially at night after the kids go to bed to curl up on the couch in front of it.
Mick really gets into his wood cutting. Apparently the chainsaw made him feel well.... I'm not sure. He's a nut!

Little Lucious was such a good helper to carry her logs over to the truck. I think it's really good for them to learn to work when they're young. I'm really glad my parents made me work as hard as I did when I was younger. I sure didn't like it at the time, but it has stuck with me now in the real world. Thanks mom and dad.

Bethany was stacking the wood at first in the truck. But it got all crazy in there after a while. She did her best though.

Ty and Bet would carry a couple of loads over to the truck and then they would announce they needed a "break". There was a rope swing right by where we were cutting that would tempt them beyond their limits. How convenient for them. Pretty soon they were over there playing on that instead of working. Eventually it would turn into a fight over whose turn lasted the longest on the swing. It just wasn't FAIR.

It was fun to watch these two play on the swing. It was so cute to listen to Hana and Emma giggling while they tried to hang onto it. Emma landed on her rear a couple of times and they would both just laugh and laugh.

Bowling on Turkey Night

When I was little, my grandparents would have all the cousins come for a sleepover at their house on Thanksgiving night. When we got older, they took us bowling. We've done it every year for a long time. This year grandma and grandpa invited the whole family, not just grandkids and that was a blast.



The kids were so excited to go all day long. I think Bethany did more dropping the ball than actually rolling it.
Gotta have a shot with me and my little sis. I think we have way too much fun together!

Ty was so good to help his little sister. It was fun to watch them. I was surprised that no one got their little fingers smashed in between the balls this year. It seems like one of the kids always does.




Bethany took some pictures with my camera. I think she actually did a pretty good job. I think she had more fun taking pictures than bowling.


I think it is so cool that we have stayed as close as we have as a family. Grandma and Grandpa are so good about getting us together to do fun things.

Holiday Bingo

My grandma Johansen started a tradition when I was little to play bingo after Thanksgiving dinner. A few years ago, Mom and I made up our own game. After someone won, they got to pick out a wrapped prize, the next winner could steal one of the others that had been won or pick their own. You would think that only the little kids would want to play, but all the adults get into it too. Mark was getting all bent this year because he wasn't getting bingo. He would say he got it every time. Mama Jo didn't believe him when he finally did.


Poor Bethany didn't win until the very end. She was so patient. Good thing Grandma Jacki rigged it or I don't think it would have happened at all.

I don't think Mick was quite as excited as it appears over his winnings. The kids were his best buddy because it was filled with candy.


Emma was the first one to win. She was so excited with her prize. How perfect for her. Good thing no one had the heart to "steal" it from her.


Hana just loves her cousin Sammy. He loves to be involved with whatever the kids are doing.