Polar Express

This is one of our boys' new favorite traditions that we started last year.  We go up to Midway and get on the Heber Valley Railroad (the Heber Creeper), known to our boys as the Polar Express and go "North" to the North Pole to see Santa.  It is a fun way to get ready for Christmas!  We get cookies, hot chocolate, sing Christmas songs, hang out with Santa's Elves, and see Santa!  It is always freezing but the boys get to wear their new Christmas pjs so they don't even notice the cold.  Hopefully we will be able to go again next year!

Christmas Gingerbread Houses

Merry Christmas!  I will hopefully blog Christmas soon (but I have a horrible headache so not now).  Here is a page I did of the boys making their annual gingerbread houses.  They did a great job.  Surprisingly, Gavin really got into it but Matthew didn't care so much.  Dallin of course had a great time making his and even woke-up early the next morning to finish it all by himself!

Gavin's Pre-school Christmas Program

I am finally posting Gavin's 1st pre-school Christmas Program.  He did a FABULOUS job!  He didn't sing all the words but he did all the actions and was very animated (as usual).  And boy was he surprised and excited when Santa made a visit to HIS program and he got a really cool Transformer scarf from his teacher, Ms. Suzee (I don't think it left his sight for the first 3 days after he got it).

He looked so grown-up and acted like a "big boy".  It is so much fun to see him turn into a "big boy" (but sad at the same time).

Christmas Card 2008

Okay - I have been too busy (like most people) and tired to do much blogging of all the fun things going on right now.  So, I thought I would put my Christmas card up.  I hope you all have a fabulous Christmas (in case I don't put anything up for a few days).  And here is our Christmas letter about the last year:

What a wonderful, busy, and exciting year 2008 was!

The biggest news of 2008 was the surprise that we are expecting TWINS in June 2009. We are so excited (and nervous) to have two little ones join our family at the same time. All our boys can’t wait either – they are hoping for 2 boys, Ed is hoping for girls, and I just hope to survive being pregnant!

Luckily, Ed and I had the opportunity to travel a bit since we won’t be going any where for a while. Ed went to Europe in April with his Executive MBA class for 2 weeks. He really enjoyed getting to see Europe again. In May, Ed & I went to New York for our 10 year anniversary. It was fabulous. We saw Wicked, Phantom, & Mama Mia. In June, we went to Lake Powell as a family with a bunch of our friends and stayed on our houseboat. In July, we drove to Oregon to visit my sister & her family. Then in August, we went to Hawaii with friends – that was an amazing trip – snorkeling, parasailing, scuba diving, etc. Finally, in October, we went to Disneyland! The kids all LOVED it (okay, Brecken didn’t really care). Dallin & Matthew spent most of their time with Ed while my mom and I went around with the 2 little ones. We went when she was out of school so she could help and we are so glad we did. It was so much fun to see the expressions on the boys faces as they saw their favorite characters & rode the rides!

Dallin is so grown up and my big helper. He is 7 and started 2nd grade this year. He is a great student and loves school. He has kept busy this year with piano lessons, playing soccer, basketball, and coach pitch baseball. But his favorite things to do are playing with his friends & brothers, writing stories, drawing pictures (that he puts up in his “art studio”), and building things. He is definitely our creative/artistic one.

Matthew is so much fun. He is 5 and started kindergarten. He loves going to school and is doing great. But really, he just wants to play with his friends & play the wii. He is a very active boy. He played soccer for the first time this year and even played basketball with Dallin. He is also turning into a fabulous helper around the house and he is such a sweet boy!

Gavin is hilarious and growing up so quickly. He is 3 and started pre-school with Ms. Suzee this year. He still loves doing whatever his brothers do and they don’t mind as much now. Gavin is really into Buzz Lightyear. He loves to run & fight & play & do the things that little boys like to do. He is very active but at the same time, he is such a mama’s boy.

Brecken is no longer a little baby. He turned one this year and has gone from having reflux and not sleeping to a little toddler that is walking, climbing stairs, laughing, getting into everything, & making all of us laugh.

Ed graduated for the University of Utah and now has his Executive MBA (to add to his list). He isn’t always sure what to do with his free time now (I have plenty for him to do) so he has taken up mountain biking again. He was planning of doing a 100- mile race this summer but that will depend on when the twins decide to come. He is still working for Xactware and traveling all over the country. He loves his job and enjoys going to work every day. When he isn’t working, traveling, or mountain biking, he loves to spend time with our boys – and they sure love him, even little Brecken.

I (Michelle) have been busy taking care of our energetic boys, trying to catch up on scrapbooking (I didn’t do much when I was pregnant with Brecken or the first 5 months of his life – I have to get caught up before the twins come), blogging, teaching Statistics 221 at BYU, and now resting on the couch – the twins are really wearing me out and they aren’t even here yet!

We are enjoying life, our families, and our friends and we are very excited for the New Year! We love you all and wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,

Ed, Michelle, Dallin, Matthew, Gavin and Brecken

Christmas Singing Program

Every year the boys school has a Christmas singing program where each grade sings two Christmas songs.  It is always fun to go and watch all the kids.  Ed always tries to come to these things but he wasn't able to make it this time (I am very glad that he does try and is able to make it to most of the kids stuff - he is a GREAT dad).  As usual, Dallin & Matthew both did a great job!

I had to include one picture of the snow from yesterday.  I have been laughing all week because of my friends and sister in Oregon - they get an inch or 2 of snow and school is cancelled.  That is just crazy to me.  We got 2 inches of snow yesterday while I was at the Christmas singing program.  And you couldn't even see the roads in my neighborhood.  There is no way they would ever cancel school - not unless we got 2 feet of snow in a day (okay - I don't really know but they have never cancelled it since we have lived here - but they didn't cancel it for us last year when it was total white out conditions).  Anyway, it just makes me laugh (probably because a day off once in awhile would be nice) - and the snow does make me appreciate my big car with 4-wheel drive (which I had to use yesterday).

Breakfast with Santa

This is one of our new traditions that we started last year (thanks to the Taylor's).  We go on a Saturday morning (you have to book way in advance) and eat breakfast, do crafts, get faces painted, meet the Grinch, and sit on Santa's lap.  The boys were so excited to get to go again this year.  We decided to leave Brecken at home with a babysitter - smart move, he just isn't old enough yet.  Anyway, we had a great time and can't wait to go again next year!

Christmas Treats

Gavin had his Christmas preschool program today.  I signed-up to take treats.  This is what I took.  I will blog the actual program later (hopefully soon) but a few people wanted to know how to make these treats for parties they have to go to.  They are both super easy but so fun and yummy!  Enjoy!  

*Oh, and by square pretzels, they look like waffles.  Snyder's is the only brand I have found that makes them and I just bought some last week at Smith's.

Christmas Decorations

I LOVE this time of year and all the decorations.  It just took me a lot longer to get all my Christmas decorations up than usual.  Usually they are all the by the day after Thanksgiving.  Oh well - they are all up (and have been for a little while) and I love them.  I didn't get much new this year - just some new ornaments for my tree (thanks to my friend Carol and Tai Pan).  I need to get more next year but it was a good start.  But my favorite things are seeing my kids be so happy about Christmas (or in Brecken's case, just so happy that he can walk)!

Crazy Gavin!

This picture is from Thanksgiving (have you ever seen a guitar playing pilgrim?).   Anyway, it is a picture of Gavin being CRAZY - which goes along with what he said to me tonight.  He was suppose to be in bed sleeping when he came down and said,

"Mom, I don't want any presents."  

He looked so said when he was saying it.  Then he said,

"I just a crazy boy!"

Happy Sounds!

Yeah! I finally went to the doctor today and we heard BOTH heart beats.  I have been so nervous about everything - especially once the thought came to me that because there are 2, twice as much can go wrong.  But the doctor assured me there were TWO different heartbeats.  Twin A's heart rate was about 140 and Twin B's heart rate was about 150 - both good.  The doctor said that heart rates between 120 and 160 are good.

More happy news is that if I do make it to 38 weeks, they will induce me!!!!  I also got a prescription to help with the nausea.  Ed asked if twins really makes you more sick.  Luckily, the doctor said YES!  He said it really is two pregnancies put together.  That since there are two placenta's, that you are more sick and more tired.  That is very true for me - I was so tired and sick last night, that after a day of doing not much of anything, I went to be at 7:15 pm and didn't get up until 8:00 am (with getting up a few times for the bathroom).

The doctor did say that I won't get another ultrasound until 20 weeks (8 weeks from now - beginning of February) but after that I will get one about every 6 weeks to make sure the babies are growing at the right rate, etc.  So, for now, I have to be happy with hearing TWO heartbeats!  

Dallin & Matthew's Re-decorated Room

Finally, after the boys room being the same for 6 years, I re-decorated Dallin & Matthew's room.  I am so happy with how it turned out.  I actually have had it done for 2 months but just never got around to blogging it.

The boys have had the bunk beds & the bedspreads for a couple of years - but the walls were red with a sports border around the top (which Matthew started to peel off little by little a couple of years ago).  I was really worried about how the stripes would turn out - they were a big pain - but I think they look really good.

 

Ed's Birthday Cheesecakes

Every year for the past 4 or 5 years, I have taken cheesecake to Ed's work to celebrate his birthday.  I thought about not doing it this year (just way too tired) but was glad I did.  Apparently, everyone looks forward to it and they don't worry about what to do for his birthday because they know I will bring in cheesecake.  This year I took in 3 cheesecakes.  A Decadent Turtle Cheesecake (recipe above), a Plain Cheesecake (recipe above) with strawberries, and a Chocolate Creme Cheesecake (click here for recipe in an older post)

Otherwise, I didn't do much for his birthday.  I did manage to make enchiladas (his favorite) for dinner that night but no cake - instead he got birthday brownies (brownies with frosting and sprinkles).  I felt so bad but that was all I could handle this year.

Brecken's New Tricks

After weeks of working on it, Brecken can finally WALK and WALK and WALK!  For the past couple he is finally walking more than crawling.  It is so much fun to watch his cute face as he walks across the room - he is so proud of himself!

Dallin's Thanksgiving Play

The week of Thanksgiving, Dallin's class did 2 little plays.  I was able to go and watch (Ed was out of town).  Dallin was the scarecrow in the first one and did a GREAT job!  He is growing up way too quickly!

Thanksgiving Day

So I am finally blogging Thanksgiving - I haven't been up to doing much of anything lately but I figured I am getting behind and I can't let that happen.  So, here is a page from Thanksgiving.  The "adult" table looked really nice in person but nothing fancy in the picture.  All of Ed's siblings in Utah and his parents came over for Thanksgiving dinner.  Since I was pregnant, so sick, and hosting Thanksgiving at my house, my mom let us fly her out to help me.  It is a good thing she came - dinner would not have been so great had she not been her.  I can barely cook for my kids, much less a feast for almost 40!  And poor Dallin woke up the night before with croup so he wasn't feeling real good that day.

Gavin - Making me Smile!

Gavin is always making me smile.  The other day he was being silly (I don't remember exactly what he was doing) and I JOKINGLY asked him if he wanted me to throw him in the trash can.  This was his reply,

"But . . . Mom . . . you love your Gavster!"

He is right, I do love my Gavster!

Who is Smart - according to Matthew

I'm not sure what Matthew & Ed were talking about the other day, but this is the part I heard:

Matthew - "Dad, you are smarter than an alligator".

Ed - "Okay - are alligators smart?"

Matthew - "Dad, you are even smarter than Joshie and Joshie is smarter than an elephant, and elephants are really really smart."

I love how 5 year olds think!

Creative Dallin

Dallin is always drawing, writing books, or making something.  Here are 2 of his latest creations.

"Just Checking out the Dark"

The other night, we got home right as it was getting dark.  Instead of going into the house like usual, Gavin started walking out to the street.  I asked him what he was doing and he said,

"I just checking out the dark."

And he kept walking.  When he got to the street, he looked around and said,

"Yup, it's dark.  I need to go to bed."

What a cute little guy he is.

Not what we were expecting!

I don't even know what to say - I am still in shock!  

Yes, we are pregnant!  And it is TWINS!!!!!!

I will be 9 weeks along tomorrow but with this being babies 5 & 6, I am not hiding it very well.  That is why I asked my doctor if I could have an ultrasound so early.  When I went for my first visit last week, I wasn't far enough along to even try to listen for a heartbeat.  I was suppose to go back in 4 weeks.  There was no way I could wait that long to tell people (they would definitely start to guess).  So, yesterday we went in for the ultrasound, just hoping to see a heartbeat.  To our SHOCK, there were TWO heartbeats!!!!  Here is how it went:

Ultrasound Lady:  Do you see these 2 dark spots? (the 2 big dark spots in the picture above)

Ed & Me:  Yes

Ultrasound Lady:  That means there are two.

Ed:  Two spots?

Me: What?

Ultrasound Lady:  Two babies!

Ed:  What?

Me:  What?  The doctor last week said with the size of my uterus, there was no way it is twins (which they have never said before).

Ultrasound Lady:  Two babies and they both look great.

Ed:  They better be twin girls!

Me:  It is way too early to know that now.

Ultrasound Lady:  I am sorry.

Me:  It is okay - we are just in shock.  It is a good thing I am laying down.

Ed:  Seriously, twins?  

So, you get the idea.  We were a bit shocked.  But we are very excited (scared, nervous, etc.) to add two more little ones to our family.  They are due June 26 but they won't let me go that long - it is too dangerous with twins.  We will see what happens.  So, if you have noticed that I haven't been blogging as much lately, this is why - I am pregnant and not feeling great.  But, the babies look good so all is well.

BYU Football

Ed (& Angie who also works at Xactware & is one of our great friends) got 7 GREAT tickets to the BYU football game.  So, Ed, Dallin, Matthew, Angie, Jared, Bailee, & Justin all went.  The weather was great, BYU won, and everyone had a great time!

Last Minute Trip to Las Vegas

It was a quick trip, but it was great.  All I wanted to do was to sleep & scrapbook.  I did one of the two - I slept.  I slept so much that I didn't even open my computer.  It was so nice to sleep through the night and to not have anyone waking me up - and it was great to not have to get up first thing in the morning and get kids off to school.  I do love doing all of that, but it was nice to have a LITTLE time off.  Luckily, my cousin Cortney was able to come and watch our boys.  And she did a GREAT job!  And, Ed's presentation went great (of course, I didn't see it - I was asleep - but Ed always does a GREAT job) - which is good since that is why he went down there.  It was fun to get to rest but it was also fun to spend time with Ed and a little time with 2 guys (& their wives) that Ed works with.  We had an amazing dinner with them at AquaKnox in the Venetian.  

Brecken's 1-year Check-up

Yeah - Brecken was finally healthy enough for his 1-year check-up (just a month late).  I am just glad he is feeling so much better!

Brecken's New Favorite Toy

Brecken LOVES this new toy!  And Ed likes that I didn't buy it.  The Taylor twins were done with it and are letting Brecken use it.  He thinks it is a fabulous toy!  Part of why he likes it I think is because he can "jump" on it (like his bouncer from when he was smaller).  It is so much fun to watch his face light up when he is on it and listen to him SCREAM with joy!

It must be winter!

My boys were so excited to wake-up to several inches of snow today.  They spent a good 15 minutes looking out the window and discussing what was covered with snow.  Then they said they couldn't possibly walk to the school bus in the "blizzard" and that I would need to drive them to school.  I actually agreed.  Of course, after a few more storms, I won't be so willing to drive them - but it was fun to drive them to school (and know they got there safely).

Matthew - my AWESOME helper!

Lately, Matthew has LOVED doing the dishes!  Anytime there are dishes in the sink, he asks if he can wash them.  I sure hope this lasts - I'm sure it won't so I will enjoy it while I can!

Happy Halloween!

Not the cutest pages but it was a fun night.  Amazingly enough, the weather was pretty good! Usually on Halloween it is FREEZING and/or SNOWING.  So, this year when we just got a few sprinkles and it was pretty warm out, we were so happy - except it was too warm for hot chocolate.  The kids have so much more fun trick-or-treating when they aren't freezing to death.

Brecken was so cute as Mickey Mouse (not a lady bug like Tappin said).  He even left his costume on.  I took him out to a few houses (until it started to sprinkle) and then he came home with me to help pass out candy (well, he tried to eat it).  It was so much fun to watch him.  Then, not long after Brecken & I got home, my cute Buzz Lightyear came home (after seeing how much he loved Buzz at Disneyland, I couldn't resist having him be Buzz and not a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle) - he couldn't understand why he was going door to door getting candy when we had a HUGE bowl full at home.  And the big 2, lasted for 2 hours with Ed.  They had a fabulous night!

Pumpkins on Parade

Every year, the kids' school does "Pumpkins on Parade".  That is where all the students bring in the pumpkins they carved or painted.  Then, the night before Halloween, everyone goes to the school to see the pumpkins and then to eat pumpkin pie.  To my surprise last year, Dallin INHALED his piece of pie - and this year was no different.  Matthew loved the pie as well.  This is something my kids look forward to every year!

Pre-school Halloween Trick-o-Treating

Gavin had so much fun at pre-school yesterday.  They all got to dress up (which made him very happy - he LOVES being Buzz) for school and have a party.  Then at the end they got to go trick-o-treating to all the mom's in front of pre-school.  I'm not sure who was more excited though - the kids or the moms!

Hair Cut for Brecken - YEAH!

Brecken really needed a hair cut.  It was suppose to get cut last week but he was too sick.  So, my wonderful friend (Dani) who is fabulous at doing hair was kind enough to come over to my house (she does not normally do house calls) to cut it (so I didn't have to drag 3 kids over to her house).  Brecken held really still but was NOT happy about it - those are real tears.  Poor little guy!  But he looks SOOOOOOO much better now!  Thanks Dani!  I owe you!

Pumpkin Brownie Pops

These really are cute in real life - and they are super yummy!  Enjoy!

In Need of Quick Dinner Ideas - HELP!

I am trying to be better about cooking dinner every night - but it is hard with Ed out of town or working late (he rarely is able to be home in time to eat dinner with us - it doesn't help that the kids are starving around 5:30 or 6).  Anyway, I am good about cooking on Sunday but I really want to be better about cooking every night (okay, most nights).  But I also need them to be pretty simple since my kids are extremely picky eaters (that is probably because I am a very picky eater too).  Anyway, I would LOVE any ideas that you guys have and/or recipes.  I would love to know what you guys cook for dinner during a "normal" week.  Thanks!

Gavin - so hungry!

The other day, Gavin was telling me he was hungry.  I was in the middle of doing something so I told him to wait a minute.  When I turned around, I saw him with everything from a whole shelf in the frig on the table and him digging in.  He said, 

"Mom, I hungry as the whole world!"

I guess I need to feed him more!

Chicken Parmesan & Fettuccine Alfredo Recipes

Here are 2 recipes that my family really like (okay - most of them, but even Dallin was okay with most of it).  Matthew had 3 helpings of the fettuccine on Sunday.  Anyway, I just wanted to share.  They are both really simple and don't take much time to make.  I hope you like them!