The mermaid and seahorse are swimming in the Barbie pool.
Kylie glaring at me for taking yet another picture. Poor thing.
Someone is a little excited about getting a Nintendo DS, can you tell?
Later that day we went over to my parent's house. Kylie is playing "Flying Monkeys" with her Nana.
Alex and his musical shirt that makes drum sounds when you tap it.
Kylie got another DS game and had to give it a try right there!
A typical onerey-Kylie face.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!! Good mornings, sunshines!
We even got a visit from James before he went to work!
That night we all went out to Mandarin Garden. We all agree that they have the BEST Tiny Spicy Chicken in the world--and many of us have tried Chinese food all over and have yet to find any better. I felt like garbage and was coming down with something. I didn't ask Santa for that.
The day after Christmas is Brian's birthday. Brian's oldest sister Jill and her husband Douglas drove out from Indiana for the week. They took us out to Firehouse Pizza for Brian's birthday. He turned the big 32. Later the guys got together for a movie marathon.
All week Brian and Kylie have camped out in front of the Christmas tree. We threw down a futon mattress, turned on some Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas music and turned out the lights. I don't know how much sleep Brian actually got, but he definitely made some precious memories with Kylie.
Every year we have a visit from Santa at the family party and Santa gives out an ornament. The kids are getting pretty wise to who the guy is behind the beard...especially this year when Santa showed up with the same bandages on his hand from surgery that Grandpa Bodily was sporting earlier. Whoops.
Our beautiful Christmas tree. Next year I'm putting it up earlier than the day after Thanksgiving. How about the day after Halloween? For that much work, I should get to enjoy it longer!
The guys showing off their new jackets. What a good looking bunch! They have entirely too much fun when they get together.
The ladies and their new jackets. I need to teach Kylie how to focus the camera...
The cute cousins and their new track suits. Those older girls are getting WAY too cute! Gonna have to find a bigger stick to keep the boys away!
The boy cousins with their new pajamas...except the older guys who were too stubborn/cool to put them on.
This video is priceless! I only got the end of the show. Brian's mom started blasting music and dancing around, and everyone joined in. Brian's oldest sister Jill REALLY got into the spirit of things. Her husband, Douglas, is in the background waving $1's at her. So freaking funny!
Today was a very special day: our Tracie graduated from Utah State University with a degree in Environmental Engineering. She has been working on this degree for over 10 years, through a divorce, being a single mom to two children, then re-marrying and raising two more children. She has worked so hard on her education, yet at the same time worked just as hard for her family. We are so proud of her patience, perseverance, and determination. We love you, Tracie!
Later this afternoon I got a wild idea to try my very inexperienced hand at sewing...ish. Normally, fabric and needles and thread and I do not get along. But today I had a very rare, but nonetheless miraculous idea to dress up a bag I picked up from Wal-mart. What's even more miraculous is that it turned out to my liking! I cut out 2 flowers from fabric, used that Heat n' bond stuff (which, by the way, confuses me--how do you keep it from sticking to your ironing board????), whip stitched the flowers (look at me, using fancy words!), sewed on a button, and back stitched (confession: I had to look up the name again, I have no idea what I'm talking about) the leaves with white floss/thread. I believe I have just created a monster inside of me! I'm going to be heat bonding/stitching/appliqueing everything in sight!
This cute little experiment will be used to give to our newest Beehive, along with her manuals and music CD as a welcome into Young Women.
And, of course, the cat was there to help every step of the way.
Kylie was so excited to set up the Christmas tree this year! She woke up early the day after Thanksgiving (grumble, grumble...I was up half the night shopping online!) and dragged us out of bed to get started on the tree. It was fun teaching her how to space the ornaments and watching her little mind work. We were lucky enough to have Brian home for Thanksgiving for the second year in a row. He'll be home for Christmas too. 
In the time it took me to run upstairs and answer the door, Kylie and her friends helped Lilly help herself to some yogurt and Kylie took pictures with my camera. By the time I got downstairs, the cat's head was pretty well covered in yogurt. Lovely.
Here's a picture of the bookmarks that I made for my Young Women lesson today on Righteous Living. It's fun to be with the Beehives (12-13 year old girls) with their enthusiasm and energy. I love the Young Women program and its amazing potential to change lives by helping the girls build a solid foundation of faith. To learn more about the Young Women program, click here.
Kylie was so thrilled to come home from school to find a kitten in the backyard! She decided to name it Lilly.
Sallie is not impressed.
