**Christmas time 2011**

The week leading up to Christmas I wanted to do something each night that focused on Christ and the real meaning of Christmas. I feel like it's so hard on the actual days of Christmas Eve and Christmas day to focus on that with all the excitement going on. I don't have pictures of each of the activities because I forgot my camera on some of them, but we all had a lot of fun throughout the week. On Monday we went to the Temple and got out and walked around and looked at the lights and nativity. Tuesday we took the kids to Walmart and had them each pick out a toy to give to Toys For Tots. Wednesday we acted out the nativity. Thursday night we watched the Nativity DVD and made these Nativity scenes out of craft sticks. Last, but not least we went to Tuachan to watch the live Nativity. I really want to remember to do this next year because I think we were all reminded about the real meaning of Christmas.

Here we are at Tuachan...





Here they are with their finished Nativities:




Here are some of the silly things Fred our elf did while he was here:
He was apparently bored one night so he got out the crayon and started coloring.


He also went on a hot date with Barbie!


Just cause she's so cute....



Each Christmas seems to be the best of all! This year was so much fun. Christmas Eve we went to the annual Cram family Christmas Eve get together where we eat and exchange gifts. It was a great time. We got a gift card to have our family pictures done by our cousin (which is just SO awesome!) Ashtyn got a princess coloring set, Camden and Collin got some pirate stuff and a sword, and Adisyn got some blankets and bracelets. We left to go home around 8 o'clock. Our kids went to bed surprisingly easy. Santa taped crepe paper back and forth across their bedroom doorways so they had to bust through the paper to come out and see their presents. (Thank You pinterest for that super cute idea!) The kids thought it was pretty funny. Ashtyn got a new bike, a doll to do her hair, make-up,MORE coloring/sticker stuff (we now have about a YEAR supply of stickers, markers, etc),slippers,sleeping bad, a lite-brite (from Grandpa O), purse (from g&g Cram) and lip gloss. Camden got a leapster with games, basketball hoop (that goes over a door) soccer goal/ball(from Grandpa O), pillow pet (from G&G Cram), slippers,and a sleeping bag. Collin got some Mr. Potato heads, blocks, Mickey Mouse, and a tractor from G & G Cram. Adisyn got some Binkies. I made Chris a San Francisco Giants blankets and he got some pants, jacket and shirt. I got my IPOD NANO (which is gonna make me skinny, right?) I wanted it to work out with, so we'll see! It has a pedometer and a lot of cool features though!

Our Christmas Tree before all the chaos...



Camden opened these boxer briefs and said "Look, I got garmets!" Ha!











Collin hauled Mickey and his candy around all morning!


Addie watching the excitement...



We sure had a great Christmas. It was so fun to have Grandma and Grandpa and Kaden be able to come and visit,too. We were all spoiled rotten and are so grateful for the wonderful year we've had! Here's to a great year in 2012!

**Christmas Activities**

My sister informed me that Grandpa Johnson didn't have any ornaments for his Christmas tree. I thought it would be fun for the kids to make him some salt dough ornaments. So that's what we did. Ashtyn and Camden had a blast and spent the whole afternoon rolling out the ornaments and then painting them. The next day we took them over to Grandpa Johnson and decorated his tree for him. The tree turned out surprisingly cute and I think he really liked them, too!









I am constantly looking/thinking of things to help my kids be reverent during sacrament meeting. It is such a struggle every week. When I saw this idea on pinterest I thought it would help a lot .(So I wanted to pass this idea on)
I made four different ones and I love how they turned out. The original post used jumbo craft sticks but all I had were the small ones. It actually turned out better since my kids are a little older so it made them more challenging. Ashtyn and Camden were both entertained for quite awhile this past Sunday. I hope they continue to help make our Sacrament a little more reverent!

Finally!

I made our stockings 3 years ago and just barely got our names embroidered on them. I think they turned out really cute! (Now I just need to make something to hang them on with enough hooks for all of them!)

1 month comparisons and some random

Here is a picture of each of my kids at one month old. (Boy,I have cute babies!) I am can't decide who Adisyn looks more like. I see a lot of Camden and Ashtyn in her, not that it matters cause she is cute cute!

Collin at 1 month

Camden at 1 month

Ashtyn at 1 month

Adisyn at 1 month

How'd we get so lucky to have 4 beautiful children?!

I do have 3 others!

Kids that is! Ha, I feel like I only post and talk about Adisyn. I took the kids to the park the other day to play and I took some pictures. I thought maybe, just MAYBE I could get a cute picture of all 4 of them together for a Christmas card. Yeah, that was NOT gonna happen. I did get a cute one of the older 3 by themselves though, so it wasn't a complete loss.

A nice customer of Chris' gave Adisyn this super cute thing ( I am not sure what it's called) and I was so excited. It is perfect for cold park days...and she looks ADORABLE in it!

Ashtyn had a dance performance at the Dicken's Festival today. She did a great job. Of course her favorite part is the dressing up and getting her hair and make-up done.

She looked so cute in this outfit, but when I went to get a picture she was not happy :)

I took her to the Doctor yesterday and her new stats @ 3 1/2 weeks old are:

Weight: 7 lbs. 11 oz.

Length: 21 inches

I can't believe she thinks she can grow up! She has gained almost 2 pounds and grown 2 inches already. I guess they can't stay tiny forever ;)

3 weeks!

I just had to post some cute pictures of Adisyn at 3 weeks old!

Let the good times begin!

Tonight for Family Home Evening we put up the tree and decorated it. We also got out all our Christmas decorations,too. The kids thought it was so much fun and are now super excited for Christmas!

For a treat we had a cinnamon roll....YUMMO!!!

Then....we had a "surprise" knock at the door from our good friend Fred the Elf. Oh, my goodness they were so excited to see him again! Ha, Ha! I am so glad Fred came back to make sure the kids are being good so Santa can bring them presents on Christmas ;) LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this tradition!

Adisyn @ 2 weeks

Our little princess is already 2 weeks. We are having so much fun with her. She is still a good baby and sleeps a lot. She has been only getting up one time in the night which is SO good for me! Here are some 2 week old pictures:

Ashtyn turns 6!

Ashtyn's "real" birthday kinda got put on the back burner since I was induced on her birthday. I think she ended up having a couple "birthdays" so she was still happy. I knew I was gonna be induced right on her day so we decided to celebrate it on the Saturday before. She chose to go to McDonald's for lunch and then she wanted to go to the Dollar Store to spend her money that Grandma and Grandpa gave her. Right before bedtime we had brownies and sang Happy Birthday. Here she is before blowing out the candles.

Ashtyn is such a funny and smart girl. She loves anything girlie especially make-up (if I let her have it, ha!) and dresses. She loves to do any sort of art- coloring, painting, cutting, gluing, taping, glitter, just anything to make stuff with. I went to parent-teacher conference this morning and her teacher told me how she is a very good student. She listens and stays on task and is nice to all her classmates. She is at or above average in all the subjects,too. We just love her so much!

7 Days New

Adisyn is one week today! She is so sweet and a really good baby. I forgot to mention that at her Dr. appointment at 3 days old she had gained 2 ounces weighing 6.1 lbs. They measured her at 19 inches, so I think she was longer than the hospital measured her.

She is just so precious!!

Our other kids are loving her, too! They are handling the change pretty good. Camden insists that her name is Addie Adisyn Hope. That's what he calls her every time. It is so funny.

When my mom was here she asked Camden how we knew that Addie is a girl. He had no answer. So then she asked him how he knew he was a boy. He responded, "because boys have oval faces!" Ha, Ha! Good answer!