Merry Christmas

Another Christmas has come and gone. We spent the week in Cedar City with my family. My sister Nicole and her husband Matt flew home from Virginia and most of my siblings came home one more time to spend Christmas together. It was quite the event, with 19 people all staying in my parent's house.

We had fun visiting, playing pool and ping pong, painting ornaments,

watching the kids get excited for Santa to come and attempting our old traditions (however, we didn't get up until 6:30, so Matt didn't get the full effect of a 4 AM Shurtz Christmas). Dustin and I sneaked in a win in our Settlers of Cattan game and Dustin was the champ of the Ping Pong Tournament. We went sledding, even though it was freezing, and my sister Jen looked hot in her old snow suit.

Even with 7 small children passing their viruses around, we somehow managed to stay healthy on the day of Christmas, at least. Santa was generous, as usual and everyone was happy with their spoils.

We had a very successful Christmas and a great time! Thank you to everyone for your generosity this Christmas!

Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow!

Snow and I have a love/hate relationship. I hated it in middle school and high school (it may have had something to do with tall, hairsprayed bangs that would get wet and ruined). Then my first year of college I discovered snowboarding and started loving the winter and what it would bring. Then I got married, ran out of money, started being pregnant many winters and so the loathing returned. But now that my kids are a little older and I am forced into playing in it with them, I realize I actually enjoy it again (at least for today).

This is what we accomplished today:

We also went sledding down our small hill. We don't actually own a sled, so I improvised with cookie sheets. They didn't work too well.

Maybe I liked snow today because after about 45 minutes Maren's hands were cold and Avery had to use the bathroom. And then we got to come in and drink hot chocolate.

Snow is awesome!

By the way, does anyone else have these? It is a nativity set on blocks of wood. Dustin's grandpa cut out the wood and his aunt got the stickers for us. The girls and I were crafty yesterday and put it all together. The kids love it and I love it because they can't hurt it (unlike my little one that I've glued baby Jesus' head on about 5 times).

Our Weekend

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We spent the big Day of Eating in Delta with my dad's side of the family. We saw long lost relatives, played volleyball, ate until we were sick and then ate some more! It was a great Thanksgiving, except that I didn't take one picture, so I can't prove any of it. That same day was also my birthday. Not just any birthday, but my 30th birthday! Yikes. Dustin and the kids made me beautiful cards and gave me some fun gifts and so it was a fine day, as far as birthdays and getting old go. We forgot to take pictures, again, so I still can't prove it. As is tradition, the next day I got up at 4:30 AM and braved the sales at Wal-Mart and Target with my friend, Brittani.

Later that day we set up our Christmas tree. And this time I took pictures to prove it!!

I actually took the finished product picture three days later, so the tree had been redecorated about 100 times, but you get the general idea. Thus far, we have only broken and hot glued about 10 decorations, and the tree has not been tipped over on any children. But we still have 24 days to go!

Beyleese Naminat everyone!

Can you believe it is that time of year again? Maybe for some of you, it isn't yet, but it sure is at our house. Sunday night we thought it would be a good idea to write letters and our kids agreed. However, they didn't have grandma and grandpa in mind like we did (sorry guys). Here is what we ended up with:


They are both asking for some sparkly doll. Does anyone know what that is? Apparently someone in Avery's class brought it for show and tell. We are already dealing with peer pressure. And let me explain the Dolly and Kenny music we have going on. If you don't appreciate it (and there is a good chance that you don't) I am only somewhat sorry. I'm sure that everyone has their specific songs that when they hear causes sugar plums to dance in their heads. Dolly and Kenny happen to do it for me (and most of my family-although not my poor, poor husband). If you can believe it, they have a whole record of Christmas music. Yes, I said record-I'm not sure they would have felt the need to make it into CD form when that started happening, or even tape form before that. My sisters and I have every song on it memorized, including the skips. FYI: If you were born after records became obsolete, they skip when they get scratched. We would turn on the Christmas lights, sing and dance to the music and it is was oh so magical. Ah, Dolly and Kenny. I thought they were married. But they aren't, even though they are dressed as Mr. and Mrs. Santa on the record cover. I recently saw Kenny on tv and his real wife is probably my age. I'm not exaggerating.

And so, as Avery would sing (loudly), "Beyleese Naminat" and "Heck the Dolls" everyone!

Happy Halloween!

We had another successful Halloween this year, complete with pumpkin carving, multiple trick-or-treatings, way too much candy, and stomach aches from eating way too much candy. It was great!

Here are our kids in action:

We had some help with the carving from the neighborhood kids. In family prayer one night, Avery prayed that she would find the biggest, wartiest pumpkin ever. And, as you can see, her prayers were answered (her arm is inside her very warty pumpkin).






We trick-or-treated 3 times! Ryan got the hang of it pretty quick and held his greedy hands out any time anyone was passing out candy. That increased our haul significantly. Way to go, Ryan!





In case you can't tell, Avery is a mermaid, Maren is a poodle and Ryan is a horse. I'm pretty sure we have enough candy to live on for the next year, so if a disaster happens, feel free to come by my house and we'll share our wealth (as for food--that one is a little slower coming). Maybe next time we should just trick-or-treat with canned goods.

Thank you, Oprah!

The other day my kids were all having a snack in the kitchen (super healthy, of course) when I thought to myself, "Could it be true? Could I turn on the tv and watch a mom show?" And I could. So I flipped between Oprah and Ellen for a few minutes. My kids heard the high pitched ringing of the tv that is so high that only children can hear and they quickly ran in. I kept it on for a few minutes because Oprah was doing a show about chicken and pig farms. That is totally appropriate for small children, right? Then, out of the blue, the farmer explains to the lady that they have about 100 pigs born a day (you can see where this is going) and suddenly, out pops a baby pig, squirmy and slimy and attached. I couldn't change the channel, it was too late, the damage was done. Maren turned and looked at me with the most shocked and horrified face I've ever seen.

Maren: (mouth and eyes WIDE open) The mom pig pooped the pig out.
Me: Ummm
Maren: The mom pig pooped the pig out, mom.
Avery: (laughing) ha ha, the pig pooped the pig out.
Me: Well, it didn't really poop it out, it just looked like it.
Avery: Yah, Maren, it just looks like it, it doesn't really poop it out (as if she knows).
Maren: (still shocked) Did you see that pig poop the pig out?
What I am thinking, but not saying: Well, yes, basically you poop babies out, and that is how you came out and don't worry, you'll get to do it too.
Me: No, it didn't poop it out, it just looks like it. Let's not talk about it anymore.
(but we did, to dad at dinner and a few neighbors)

So thank you, Oprah, for bringing up the sensitive and beautiful subject of child birth with my children. I am sure we'll be having more conversations about this in the future.

The dreaded white stuff

This is what we woke up to on Sunday morning. The kids were so excited, so we loaded on the clothes and headed out to brave our wicked winter storm. Umm, I think it is time to invest in some blue snow pants for Ryan, poor kid. I didn't stay out as long as the kids because just looking at the snow makes me need to cuddle up to a warm blow dryer.

And I think we caught a cold.

Don't worry, the snow had melted by the time we got home from church. And it is supposed to get into the 70's again by the end of the week. Phew.

Also, Happy Birthday to my sweet husband. I love you!

The Hunt

Last weekend marked the beginning of a new era for Dustin. He went on his first ever Hunt. My parents came up for the weekend and my dad took Dustin with him Elk Hunting. My dad comes from a long line of hunter-gatherers. He grew up in Delta. So he has an innate drive that forces him to buy a tag and load up the gear and head into the wild frontier.

This year we had another succesful Hunt. Now, lest you mistake this for what it really is, let me explain The Hunt to you. Opening morning of The Hunt, you are out the door at the crack of dawn: approximately 7:04 am. If you didn't get up early enough to eat, you may stop at McDonald's and grab a breakfast sandwich. Then you drive in your Altima up the nearest Canyon for a while. Then you find a great meadow and throw on some bright orange and get out of the car and take a few pictures of everyone holding the gun.

Then you sit in the meadow and wait for your Elk to come to you. But you get bored after a few minutes and so you whine to Dad until he gives in and you set up a target and shoot the heck out of it (Dustin probably didn't whine, but I did as a child--I never whine now).

It makes you really happy to shoot a gun. After all this Hunting, you are starving so everyone piles back in the car and eats lots of yummy treats and turns the heat on full blast (because it is really cold to hunt). We talk and laugh and take pictures and eat and wear orange and shoot a gun and stuff like that. The only way my dad is killing anything is if it runs in front of his car. Hunting is so cool. Everyone should be Hunters.

Life as we know it

I may be back to my old ways. It has been a while since I posted. I think life just keeps moving on and I get busy doing... well nothing too amazing, really. But, just to prove that we are all alive and kicking, here is what we've been doing lately:

Ryan is walking all over now and has recently discovered two new loves, the garbage can and any writing utensil. I found him eating an old banana peel the other day and later coloring on my walls with red pencil. Oh, but he was so happy! And he says a few new words: na (for no), na na (for shoes, or anything else he wants put on his feet), and na na na (for I don't want any more food, thank you).

The girls got Tinker Bell makeup in the mail from Gramma Lana, which they absolutely love and wear daily, especially right before bedtime because Maren keeps it in a special spot near her bed to remind her. We are so beautiful while we are asleep now!

.

We bought some Blue Bonnet Margarine Spread in a tub. I used to think that my Grandma's butter tasted rancid because it was (bless her heart). Now I realize that it tasted rancid because it was Blue Bonnet. I guess everything isn't better with Blue Bonnet onnet.

No, Dustin has not finished his thesis yet, but he estimates being only 5 hours away. I estimate that those 5 hours will take 500 (not through any fault of his, really). But don't worry, he has stuck faithfully to his no chip diet for 4 months now and it is saving us loads on our grocery bill.

I made some yummy Sesame Chicken with a recipe I got from the fantastic Beka, which I will include now. And with the way I have been feeling about cooking lately, that actually is an amazing feat.

Sesame Chicken

4 chicken breasts canola oil 1/4 C. sugar

2 T. oyster sauce 2 T. cornstarch sesame seeds

1/2 C. cornstarch 1 1/3 C. water 2 T. soy sauce

1/2 t. garlic powder 1 1/2 C. broccoli, cut in chunks

1. Cut chicken into 1 inch pieces. Put 1/2 C. cornstarch in plastic bag and toss in bag until well coated. Add enough canola oil into your skillet to generously coat bottom.

2. Fry chicken until med-brown. While frying, prepare sauce by mixing in saucepan-water, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, garlic powder and 2 T. cornstarch. Stir mixture over med. heat until thickened and pour over chicken. Simmer 3 minutes. Add prepared broccoli and steam until desired tenderness. Stir in sesame seeds and serve over rice.

There you have it. I hope everyone else is as blissfully boring as we are right now!

Firsts

This last month has brought a lot of firsts at our house. Earlier in the month Ryan took his first steps. He's a little better now than in the video and when I watched this again, I decided I'm going to put another video on soon because he really does better now. These were literally his first steps:

And a little later he got his first haircut, which he cried through the whole thing and clung onto me, but didn't wiggle:

And Maren drew a picture of her first person-Avery, in fact. She then drew one of me, Dustin and herself. Our little arteeest!

And Avery had her first day of Kindergarten. She loves that there is a doll house in her classroom and a fish and a hampster.

Everyone is getting so old around here.

Avery, Maren and Ryan

When my girls were smaller (or should I say younger?) I had a few comments on how they looked nothing alike. I think the different hair colors threw people off. Here is proof that they are sisters:

And here is our new invention of Oreos on a stick:

P.S. Happy Birthday Lynnette!!

Bows, Bows and More Bows!

I wanted to do a quick plug for my good friend Rachel and her Bowlicious Bows. Rachel came and did a bow party a couple of weeks ago at my house. She was such a great salesman by being so unpushy, and genuinely excited about her product. She was great and I have had lots of compliments on the bows my kids have worn. I now see her gorgeous bows on most of the little girls in my neighborhood. Thanks Rachel!!

Old People, Young People and Such

To continue on our crazy busy summer we had Dustin's sister and her family stay with us for a week for a Wiberg Reunion. On the weekend, we all went to Logan for Grandpa Wiberg's 90th Birthday. We had a lot of fun with Dustin's family and camped in Logan Canyon. At the party Dustin, Danielle, Arie and I sang a few rousing military numbers (yes, you heard me correct--we sang at his birthday party). Then we played mini-golf, where I lost to Dustin's 7-year old nephew (yes, you heard me correct--I stink at mini-golf). No Braithwaite's threw-up, and I didn't wet my pants or break into laughter during the singing, so all-in-all I think it was a successful family reunion.

The day after the Braithwaites left, I headed to Cedar City to help with my sister Nicole's wedding. She and Matt were married on August 2nd and because of the increased High Pressure and Northwesterly flow of air currents (or something like that, according to Elder Mark Eubank at the Visitor's Center), the temperature was only 100 degrees instead of 117. She looked beautiful and they looked extremely happy and even though I had to say goodbye a week later as she left for Virginia, I am glad she married someone with such a great last name as Cragun. Although I just heard on the Olympics the name "Boobka". That's pretty cool too.

We also got to spend time with my brother Chad and his family (yes, you heard me correct--even though we don't invite him into our sister pictures, I have an awesome brother too!) and Monica and her family. We played dominoes, boccie ball and visited the Sand Dunes (where it was too hot to actually play on them). It has been a great month of being with family. And now I'm glad to try and get back to a normal routine.

Grassy

A couple of weeks ago we went to the annual Losee Reunion, otherwise known as Grassy Lake. For 15-ish years my dad's whole family went camping at this lake. Then for the next 9 the lake was empty and the camping changed to other random fake Grassy Lake locations. But this year the lake was refilled and stocked with fish-a-plenty (my dad even caught one) and so the whole clan headed back up to our beloved Grassy. It was so exciting for me to show Dustin a true Grassy Lake reunion. We found many trees my cousins and I mutilated by carving our names in them. We canoed around the lake.

We went on a four wheeler ride. We played softball with the cousins. Our kids got extremely dirty and bathed in the lake.

We tie-dyed shirts.

There was, of course, a treasure hunt, fish pond and pinata for the kids.

And we didn't get eaten by any bears. It made me a believer that even the Wibergs can camp. Of course, we'll have to take my mom, who still provided and prepared most of the food. So I guess the Wibergs can camp if all we do is have fun and somebody else does all the work. Any takers?