Read Family: June 2018

Friday, June 1, 2018

Gingerbread houses and sugar cookies...YUM!

So this was the first year we decided we would make gingerbread houses with the kids and let me tell you, it was the most fun ever! The kids had a blast helping out! However, Justin seemed a little stressed out over it, I think he just set his expectations a little too high! :) We bought a premade kit at Sams Club and it turned out better than I thought. From what I hear, most premade kits have a tendency to fall apart but ours held together really well. It was so fun to watch our kids bring out their creative side, including Justin. He was so set on making sure it was perfect! No wonder our kids are so meticulous!! Hudson bailed out a few times to go and check out the football game in the other room, but Swayzie held out strong, she was in it for the long haul and was so proud of herself when we were through. This will definitely be a new tradition we add to our Holidays!

We also made some sugar cookies after making the gingerbread house so that the kids had something to munch on. They turned out really well, Swayzie begged all day for me to make pink frosting this time, she was so happy to find bright pink frosting in the fridge when she woke up from her nap! They love making cookies with me but Grandma has always been their favorite when it comes to cookie making! She is the expert, Swayzie has mentioned a few times that Grandma’s cookies are just a little bit better than mine. No offense taken, I couldn't agree more!! Next time we decide to do this all night shin dig, we'll have to start a little earlier so that our kids are not awake all night from the sugar high their on! We had so much fun tonight, can’t wait to do it again!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

This week for family night, we went and picked out the perfect Christmas tree at Home Depot along with a few ornaments. Each year we let the kids pick out their very own ornament and write their names on the back along with the year. It's so fun for them to decorate the tree, they spent hours making sure that each ornament was in just the right spot ( they tend to be a little meticulous when it comes to things like this). They also loved setting up the little nativity scene that has been repositioned almost a thousand times now. It's so fun for us to pass on traditions we had with our own family onto our kids, I felt like a kid again decorating the tree and drinking hot cocoa . It was just like old times!

Later that night we wrote Santa our wish list and I got a good laugh out of Swayzie's list, it consisted mainly of Barbie’s, dresses, puppies and makeup. It filled the entire page. We gave a little lesson on being grateful for the things that we have and taught them about other children that are not as privileged. Well, she's starting to get a little too smart for her own britches, she was sure to pipe in and let us know that Santa gives presents to all of the children. I don't know if we really got anywhere, she may be a little disappointed when Christmas rolls around. Next week we plan to have her donate her toys that she doesn't play with as often, I have a feeling she may not have the best reaction to it. After we vetoed a few of the items wanted on her list we stamped and mailed them off to the North Pole. This Christmas has been so much fun, especially now that our kids grasp the concept of Santa , I have to admit it's been nice to pull out the Santa card every so often when their throwing a major temper tantrum!

Swayzie's Last Soccer Game

Swayzie had her last soccer game on Saturday, her team lost which wasn't much of a suprise, they've been on a major loosing streak over the last few weeks. She played really hard though and really wanted to score a goal. She was pretty bummed out after the game until her coach gave her the trophie, she was so happy about it, although she did mention she really wished it was pink instead of blue!

Funny Story...

Okay, so I have to tell you a funny story that happened this morning, everytime I replay it in my mind I burst out laughing! So our morning routine consists of Justin waking up around 4:45ish to leave for the gym and then to work, Only this morning was a little different. Instead of waking up from the sound of the alarm clock, the entire family was alerted bright and early around approximately 4:15ish by the chanting of Follow the Prophet by Hudson, this wasn't just any typical song you hear the kids singing in primary. He was chanting the song at the top of his lungs over and over again. When I went into his room, half asleep and thinking that this had to be a dream, I found Hudson marching around his room to the sound of his own music. He was in a total zone and didn't even notice I was there. I picked him up and layed him back in bed and told him it was still bedtime, unfortunatley that didn't go over so well. He decided he needed to sing louder, the song had know turned into complete screaming. At this point the whole family is in Hudson's room and poor Swayzie who is sleep walking and has run into either a door or a wall at least five times has decided she needs to put in her 2 cents and tells Hudson that he is being too loud and that he is driving her crazy. It was pure chaos as I'm sure you can imagine. Luckily, we were able to get the whole fam into our bed and back asleep again. I'm just praying that this isn't going to be a new habit!

Christmas Pictures

Our family took some Christmas pictures with Justin's family a couple of weeks ago, they turned out really cute. I love the ones of the kids, especially the one whre they are giving Grandma kisses! Swayzie was sure to put on her modeling face, she would get so upset when Justin teased her about it but once she heard the words say CHEESE she flashed a smile and a pose just like a pro!

I love Owen's smile here, he looks just like his daddy!! Hudson was a little too concerned about making sure his hand was in his pocket.

Our little family! I'm suprised we even got a single decent one, Hudson was so done with pictures at this point.
All three kiddo's giving Grandma sloppy kisses!!
The Famo, well most of them that is!
Here is just one of the many modeling faces Swayzie was dishin out!
Owen's J.Crew pose, I love it!!
Grandma and Swayzie, this ones my favorite!!

Christmas!!!

Okay, I know I'm a little behind on my blog posts it has just been a little chaotic around here with the Holidays and what not. Okay now, where do I begin so much has happened over the past few weeks I don't know where to start. The weekend before Christmas my we spent up at my sister Stacey and her husband Rocky's home is Prescott with the rest of my family!! We had so much fun up there, we spent every night and most of the day playing games and just relaxing. Swayzie and Hudson had a blast playing with their cousins and their mischievous uncle Jake who loves to tease and scare them. It was so nice to be able to play a few games up there while the kids just played together. Most of our family games tend to end a little heated with so many strong competitors. Luckily, this time my husband was able to keep his temper under control!! The kids also got to open presents up there from my family and were spoiled rotten with all the presents, it definitely had them even more anxious for Christmas to roll around. It was sad to leave, the time went by so quickly while we were there. Hopefully it won't be too long before we plan another trip up there!! Christmas morning turned out better than I could have expected, besides the fact that I woke up almost every hour of the night hoping that the kids were awake so we could open the presents. Finally, at around 6 am I decided it would be best to just wake the kids up before I fell into a panic attack!! I have serious issues, I know! They were so excited to find all the presents under the tree. Hudson loved his new bike and had to be yanked from it so that he would open the rest of the presents. Swayzie loved all of the princess stuff Santa brought, however was a little disappointed when she would open something that she didn't think was a "toy". Justin told her that if she didn't want it we could just send it back to Santa and he would find someone that wanted it. That quickly zipped her lip and she was then telling us how much she loved it! We spent the remainder of the day over at Justin's family's home where we opened more presents, and of course the kids were spoiled rotten!! The kid's spent the day trying out all their new toys while we played games. It was a super fun day, I couldn't have asked for anything better!! We then spent the following day's up in Heber with Justin's old friend Billy from Highschool and his wife's family. They had a beautiful cabin that we were able to stay in and a basement full of toys that the kids LOVED!! The boys of course went snowboarding, I was a little bummed that I couldn't tag along. The last trip I spent snowboarding and pregnant didn't go over so well so I figured I'd hold off until after the baby is born. By the way we just found out...It's a GIRL!!

Good morning sunshine, rise and shine!!

Hudson was so preoccupied with his bike, I had to remind him that there were more presents under the tree!!

Hudson was pure craziness!! He was acting like a complete NUT!!

Disneyland!!!

Swayzie and Hudson at Snow White's cottage

Grandma and Swayzie on the jellyfish ride

Hudson and Grandma on the rockets

Our family finally went on our very first trip to Disneyland and had a BLAST!! It was the most fun ever!! We went with some of Justin's family who were a huge help, it was so nice to have them around. You can never have too much help when you're there! We started out with the Snow White ride, which I thought Swayzie would love but both kids came off that ride screaming histarically! Let's just say, it probably wasn't the best ride to start them out on. Luckily the Dumbo ride cheered them right up! The kids could not get enough of Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain, those were for sure their favs! Swayzie also loved meeting the princesses and the Disney characters that were wandering around. She also got a special invitation to meet Princess Cinderella which just made her day!! While meeting Princess Belle, we learned that Hudson was especially fond of her and would not leave her side, he was hugging on her and holding her hand. Once she kissed him on the cheek it was over for Hud, he didn’t want to leave after that. When we finally left to visit the other Princesses Hudson just starred at her, he didn’t notice anyone else in the room but her. It was really cute. Hudson was such a riot, he was so funny on the rollercoaster’s. He would hold up his hands and scream the entire time, even before the ride began. It worked out perfect because he was just tall enough to go on almost every ride! He was able to go on Space Mountain, Soaring Over California and yes, despite all of the dirty looks we were given by on looking parents we took him on Hollywood Tower of Terror!!! He LOVED it though!! Swayzie on the other hand, not so much!! It wasn't necessarily the ride she was scared of, she was scared of the movie that they showed us before. She thought we were all going to turn into ghosts. She loved everything else though!! We spent three days there and were able to see and ride almost everything!! Once my family heard of all the fun we had, they decided to join the band wagon and take all the grandkids too!! Justin and I decided to skip out on that adventure, I think we've had our fill of Disneyland for awhile. Now that they have had two Disneyland trips in one month, they think that it's a weekly routine! When we wake up in the morning and I ask them what do you guys want to do today, they respond; "go to Disneyland"!!