This is for my Mamas

Christmas in July... in a Nutshell

I am catching up as usual. I have decided to do one HUGE Christmas post. It is a hard post to do...lots of pictures. Looking back on it without the stress of the moment...wow, Christmas looks fun!

I know it is Christmas time when I start seeing reindeer around my house:

Then comes the baking...this was the first of two rounds!

We made mini-gingerbread houses and let the cousins decorate them this year. This was one of Ash's big plans...which we regretted about halfway into making all the gingerbread. I am documenting this so we remember....just BUY the ones from costco to decorate. It was quite the project!! (I will say the outcome was quite adorable however.)

Fiona started taking her first real steps in December, and took off walking on Christmas day. This picture is blurry, but I love the expressions on Jack and Grace's faces.

The always fun, house and tree-decorating event. Notice Grandma Jones (Aha) in her chair. She came to stay with me starting in December. What a treat!

I think she sometimes gets a kick out of watching the family chaos. Here she is really smiling.

Family night, checking out some lights in the Riverwoods.

Jack's school play, he was the main part: Santa!

Jack with his class, performing. I was so proud.

This year, the Emig crew rented a beautiful cabin (home) up Ogden canyon. First we congregated at our house. Once Emily and Jared arrived from Alaska, the party was ON! First up, the BYU game...which we won.

Somehow they decided to go all ROTC and do push-ups every time we scored (one for each point). By halftime they were up to....well I can't remember now, but it was HIGH!! Notice who is NOT doing them. Well, someone had to take the pictures, right? Notice Allison's form...amazing!

Each family had a room in my house. This meant that my girls got to sleep on my floor in a "special bed", which they were thrilled about. I had to snap a picture when I saw that they were holding hands...while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads.

We had so many fun times at the cabin. It was great to be together and let our kids have tons of cousin time.

One of the first days there we received a special package at the door addressed to "Poppy".

Here is Joey reading the attached poem:

What could it be? Something is about to happen as all the aunts and uncles started getting their cameras ready.

Are you ready to meet him? Here he is "Poppy the Penguin"!!!! This full sized grandfather penguin had to preform all kinds of funny tasks to help make sure Christmas was going to come. Wow, can I just say that my dad-in-law is a REALLY GOOD SPORT!!!

So this Christmas consisted of many things....I will call them my favorite things. And it starts with #1, Cousin Bonding!!

There was alot of #2, Adult Fun!! (nothing weird...okay, well slightly.)

Some serious trains going on....

Lots of shenanigans, complements of my brother in laws...

Does it get any better than Jared in "jeggings"?

Okay, then add these 2 characters:

One thing about the Emigs...we LOVE to be together. It was great to put the kids down and play. There was never a dull moment.

Okay, next on my list of Christmas fun #3, CRAFTS:

Then on to #4, FOOD:

Fiona spent a good portion of her time up at the bar eating taco soup.

There are always some tears involved when you mix Carolina Jones and food.

Joey on "dad duty"....ummmmm not it!

Another of my favorite things #5, STORIES WITH GRAMY

Oh yah, and there was an oversized penguin there too!

Another favorite, #6, SITTING AROUND

On to #7, PROJECTS

Emily and I had fun with this. I love Em's face in this one as she is getting the kids all excited for the nativity she had planned.

Which leads to my favorite thing #8.....THERE WERE SHOWS!!!

And #10, there were Elves Elves and more Elves!

And finally there were Presents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The kids lined up by age ready to go down for Christmas morning.

We will call this next group of photos: the big trick! We got our kids xbox 360 games (kinect) not only was our xbox broken, but we didn't have the kinect. You can see how they look a little dissappointed. We said..."Oh, we got the wrong thing, you have to have the connect for these to work? We can return the games....etc. "

Then we had them open a letter that said to look on the computer for their other gift.

They ran to the computer and saw a picture of an xbox 360 with kinect.

Wow, were they surprised.

Halloween Costumes

Okay, so the real reason we go to all this Halloween trouble, well besides the obvious candy rewards, is so that I can have cute pictures of my kids dressed up. In the morning, it was off to the school parade, I put these three in some costumes that didn't make the final cut.

Tyson, Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals:

Carolina borrowed from Brooklyn, to become an adorable blond Pocahontas:

Show us your adorable shoes Carolina Jones:

Gracie "Alice in the Wonderland"..also borrowed from Earl cousins (thanks for saving me a bundle Kaelynn!)

Jack, Army Guy:

The Garden Gnomes, Henry and Fi:

Is this cute or what?

Of course these two wasted no time finding my candy stash by the front door for the trick-or-treaters:

This is what I saw when I looked down the hall.

It was a good time...but boy was I glad when it was over...they are already talking about what they want to be next year.

Gracie Turned Four

Grace's birthday is fun, because it is around Halloween. Her birthday week started with a visit to her school. I brought a poster, and told her class all about her. Here she is with her amazing teacher Miss Cathie:

I love this picture of Grace holding her baby sister Fi. Needless to say, Grace is a small person. Grace is quick to point out that she is little, but she is not a baby. "I'm just short"...she says.

Things I love about Grace...where do I begin? This little girl is what we call a "do good-er"...whenever anyone is in trouble she is quick to point out "mom, I'm not talking mean"...or "I will always obey mom". It is funny. She is very agreeable and easy-going, which helps her to get along with her sister Carolina famously. They are best friends in fact, and are pretty much inseparable. She loves to sing and is happy to give a performance anywhere to anyone. She is cute and funny and is super-cuddly. She gives the best hugs in the family...using both her arms and legs! She hates to get in trouble, and it breaks my heart when I have to scold her...which isn't too often. She is the peace-maker of our bunch. She skips everywhere she goes. She has an odd stubborn streak that kicks in occasionally, and at the weirdest times, always catching me off guard when it happens. She has a tendency to be what we call a "lolly-gagger"..taking her time and getting distracted when we are trying to get in the car. Everyone thinks she is an overachiever, she is extremely verbal, especially for her height! She is famous in our ward and neighborhood, everyone knows who she is for some reason. I love my Grace!

We decided that we would go to Build-a-Bear for her birthday. Ash has been wanting to go for years...ha ha. I was willing to do a bear for Carolina and Grace, then Jack begged me to come, so I paid for HALF of his bear.

Excited CC in the parking lot!

The birthday girl.

The kids with Auntie Ash...I didn't have to do too much talking to convince her to come with us!

Here we go, Jack has leftover camo-paint on his face, from wearing his costume to school that day...

Giving her bear a "bath":

The final product...and three VERY HAPPY KIDS!!

On Halloween, before trick-or-treating, we sang to GiGi and opened presents. Aunt Linh came through AGAIN with a sweet cake for Grace. She had the lady at the bakery put princess rings on the cake. And she got a special pin to wear. Thanks Auntie Linh, you are the BEST. Grace was THRILLED. She is dressed as "Alice in the wonderland" (as she calls it).

Hmmm, I wonder what this present could be?

Holding her spoils from Gramy Lori:

Jack and Oli, ready to hit the streets for some candy gathering:

Fiona Turned One

Looking back, I didn't blog about Fiona's and Grace's birthdays. Ashley did of course...but then someday when we are reading the blog book, I don't want these two daughters of mine to wonder "what gives?".

First off, I know you have all seen these pics that I went back and stole off of Ash's blog, but they are worth re-showing. Cort, you are amazing.

So with this post we will focus on Fiona. Fi is a very spunky and happy little baby. She brings so much joy to our family. It is so fun having a baby when you have older kids. They love her so much and are incredibly helpful with her. She basically has four little servants running around to do her bidding. Fiona makes us laugh so much and brings the whole family together. Who could resist this face?

I loved reading back on Ash's blog. We threw a big family party for the "twin cousins" (not to be confused with our actual cousins that are twins!).

Time to blow out the candles.

We had a baked potato bar (a cheap and delicious way to feed the 28 fun family members who came). Ladies in the kitchen...doing what we do!

Fiona has MANY nicknames...I thought I might list some for the record: Fi, Fi-nona, Nona, Fid, Fidstonias, Noni, Fi-Fie, Baby (Grace is Beebs)....oh yah, my grandma also calls her Little Wee, and Lil' Fixin...usually, when I call her name she RUNS THE OTHER WAY, laughing.