Out with the old, in with the new

We are getting a new roof!  Today I got a call from Home Depot that said they are coming tomorrow to start.  To quote one of my favorite movies, The Money Pit "Your name came up in a drawing, we work today!"  Hooray and hope it doesn't rain!

Seahawk Mania

It's true, this household  is in a FULL Seahawk frenzy.  The above picture was taken right as the Seahawks won the NFC championship last week.  I thought we might need to call an ambulance for some of us with 2:00 minutes left in the game.  The picture captured the moment perfectly!

What a game to remember

Super bowl here we come!

The 12th man was a little tired after such a crazy win!

Lucy and her mom...

... have a love for the same thing ...cookie dough.

Who needs to bake the cookies when you can just eat the dough!

2015!

The Grandpa and Grandma Swany New Year's Eve sleepover was a scream!  The kids loved having so many cousins to ring in the New Year with. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma, what a fun tradition.

I have been promising my kids for at least a year that I would take them ice skating.  So when all the cousins were in town I finally made good on my promise. This was their first time ice skating and they did so good.  I thought it could have turn out to be a bit of a disaster but all of the kids really did awesome and we had so much fun.  Thanks Katie, Laura, Olanders and Congers for coming! 

 

* On a side note-- I just love these two!  They are so cute together!!

 

                                        

Blitz

While in Seattle Christmas shopping I ran into a good friend of mine!

Oh Christmas Tree...

Let me be honest.  We did a horrible job picking out our Christmas tree this year.  Normal I might say "Good not great."  This time I would have to say "Poor to quite poor"  With about two and a half weeks till Christmas this poor tree stopped drinking water.  It was nice not to have to water it much but it was DEAD.  When I took off the lights and ornaments the poor thing was pretty much just sticks.  It was a huge mess to clean up!  Oh...Tis the season to be jolly, right?  Here is to hoping next year we do a little bit better picking out our Tannenbaum!!

American Girl

 

Over Christmas Break Julia, Natalie, and I spent a little time at the American Girl store with Grandma, Katie and Laura.  We had so much fun!  Who doesn't have fun at that store?!  Well the answer is Mitch but us girls had a great time! The girls had their dolls go to the salon to get a their hair done.  It was so cute to watch.  The girls were in heaven.  One might think that it is a waste of money to have someone comb out the hair of a doll but it was totally worth it if you saw what Natalie's doll's hair looked like!  American Girl might be my weakness.  I LOVE IT!

Christmas

 Christmas morning was full of excitement and fun.  Santa came and left lots of great surprises.

Santa brought Cameron an I-Pod Shuffle and a speaker.

Santa brought Julia a PINK sewing machine and a J necklace.  Mom and Dad gave her a Seahawk sweatshirt because that is what she wanted the absolute most!

 Santa brought Natalie an Easy Bake Oven and a hula hoop

 Santa brought Lucy a table and chairs and a kitty purse!

 The Christmas aftermath!

Mitch and I got exactly what we wanted!  Mitch received his favorite caramel corn of all time and I got the best present I have ever received...  

Julia and Natalie made this book all by themselves and it might be the sweetest, cutest thing I have EVER seen. Best present ever!   I starting crying when I got it because it sums up our family perfectly.  I feel so grateful to be a part of it!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve might be my all time favorite day of the year.  I love it.  This year we got smart and had dinner a little earlier so that later when we played Bingo we wouldn't make ourselves ill with all the snacks.  It didn't help a ton, we still ate until we were sick but it was so good!  A Christmas miracle occurred and Mitch actually had a winning Bingo card! 

 Amy made everyone Christmas crackers and everyone got a mustache! 

Ringing of the bells

The Nativity participants

Lucy wanted to dress up but only as a princess and absolutely refused to wear anything else.  

Cameron was a Seahawk donkey

 Julia was a wiseman and Natalie-Joseph.  They all looked very sophisticated with their mustaches!

The reverent re-enactment...hmmm...

Mary and Joseph were so cute!

Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam!

On Lucy's last day of Nursery!

Lucy's 1st Sunday as a Sunbeam!!

At the start  of this year I got  a new calling as the CTR4 teacher.  I am going to like the break from Cub Scouts but I love the fact that I get to go into Junior Primary with Lucy.  She is so cute.  She has been such a good girl in Primary, she sits in her seat the whole time and just watches wide eyed at everything going on around her.  Last week her teacher brought a construction paper egg that the Sunbeams were supposed to sit on during Primary to keep warm and then in class they got a pom pom chick that hatched.  The other day I caught her singing I am a Child of God while she was playing with her toys.  Seriously, so cute.

Two of a kind

These two are two peas in a pod.  Cameron got a matching Husky tie for Christmas to match his dad. They literally bleed purple and gold. In one night the Huskies lost their bowl game in football and had their first loss of the year in basketball.  Cam had to go to his room to have a good cry.  Being a super fan does come with its downfalls.

Cameron is six month away from being a Deacon... Hoot Hoot!!

This just in....

I have ONE child who will eat a tortilla!