December Daily - Friday, December 16th

Another awesome December day.
I spent the entire stinking morning (okay, like an hour or hour and a half, but seriously....) trying to save some time and cash by painting my fingernails and toenails.
Well, after waiting forever for them to dry, I moved on to the rest of my day and.....Well, that was an hour down the drain:




White girl problems...I know.

I got Brig off to school and went down to Stanton's office to see Cindy and her kids --- I LOVE when my sisters come down for dentist appointments! I get my bi-annual dosage of uncontrollable giggles. Oh man, I love them.

We got home after the appointments and Stanton tried to repaint my nails. He even blow dried them --- well, I think the polish was crap because they smudged just as terribly. Ugh. Well, don't tell, but I just ignored it and pretended like they were good.
Again, white girl problems. You don't have to remind me.

Sooo, we got the house cleaned up (except Stanton's and my HORRIBLE STY of a room) and awesome Madie came to tend. The kids were all SO excited for her to come!

She came to tend because we had one of our favorite events of the Christmas season-- the Dave & Erica Low Christmas Party!!! We seriously love and look forward to this party every year. (Every year since last year). It didn't disappoint one little bit.
Dave had a couple of former seminary students come and sing (and play several instruments). They were darling and so talented.









Dave gave his annual Christmas message, which was fantastic as always.
After his message, we had the white elephant exchange. We scored a Skookie pan set!! Sweet!




This was one of the super cool gifts- his and hers Aggie beard beanies!

Oh, and guess what? I won the 'Best Dressed' award. Ha! It was SO fun to get some use out of the dress I bought for Jr. Miss earlier this year.



Not the best picture, but it sort of captures the dress. I wish Stanton had had his tie and jacket on still, but once it comes off, there is NO putting it back on.
I can't blame him--- within minutes, I was in my grandma jammies. But with awesome earrings in still. :)





I got the tags finished for our favor at the family party (YAY!). And now it's time to get to sleep. We have a fun Saturday tomorrow - Rose family party!! Woot!

Thanks, Dave and Erica, for including us in the party!! We love you!!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

December Daily - December 6th/ABCPD Christmas Party

You can guess how we spent this day, right? :)
I stayed up till 1:30 last night so I could get the mashed potatoes made and tidy up the upstairs, so I was feeling pretty on top of things today, actually.
Lily opened the fridge and had a nice surprise to share:






Attack of the roll dough!! They sure were tasty, though!

The girls got off to school with minimal drama (and piano practiced!) and I helped the boys with a few little projects, then rolled out and baked the rolls.
While they ate lunch, I got the bathroom cleaned, floors vacuumed, and the kitchen mopped.
I got Cannon off to school and realized that I couldn't find my keys. Ugh! Thank goodness I had a spare set because I needed to go get a digital thermometer for the turkey. (I just realized I still don't know where those are. Better look tomorrow.)
I also stopped for lunch at Charlie's ice cream shop. Yum.
Anyway, things moved along really nicely and I had time to help the kids with their homework. There was only one minor hiccup- I neglected to look at my tablecloth situation...and all I had were orange and black ones. Stanton ran to the store on his way home and picked up those and some plastic spoons.
The kids were AWESOME helpers. They helped with setting the table, bringing in chairs, etc.
I didn't get any great pictures of the food because we were too busy getting it all on the table! I managed the grab a couple of pictures, though. I think the only thing I missed was the stuffed mushrooms (they were yummy).












The food ended up being really yummy and the company was great, as usual.
We finished the night with our annual white elephant exchange.
There were some great ones-- including a frozen turkey breast (which kept being called a giant bag of nuts), adult diapers, and the best one of all, which I got--- A Leg Lamp puzzle!!! It's going to be so fun to put together and even came in a replica box - it looks like the one in the movie. Awe. Some.

It was a wonderful night. I didn't get any pictures of the staff this year- darn! We have such a great staff right now - awesome, awesome people who are just full of goodness.

Oh, and we couldn't find a sitter for the kids last night, so we hired Chloe. She was awesome!
The kids stayed downstairs the entire time and she even read them bedtime stories. What a good kid. It's nice to be able to depend on her now and then.


Man oh man, I love December!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Rose Family Reunion

The last two weeks of my life can only be described as Heaven.  We have spent so much time with our extended family -- this time my side mostly -- and it has been absolutely glorious.  Summer is so wonderful for family reunions, traveling, and spending time with the people we love the most.

The first Friday in July was spent at our home hosting our Family Reunion.  We had every single member of our family there, which doesn't happen too often for us.  It couldn't have been better.

Cindy and I were the only ones who didn't have crazy travel or other duties the week before the party, so we split up the food assignments and everyone else pitched in for the cost.  It was a great way to go.  We made what we thought was a ton of food, but we were wrong!  We ended up throwing together 2 batches of brownies and 2 batches of Rice Krispies treats halfway through the day!

We rented a huge water slide from Checketts Amusements, which was such an enormous hit!  The kids ran between that, the sandbox, the swing set, and the trampoline the entire day.  They seemed to just run in a circle from one thing to the next, never wearing out!  It was so awesome and allowed for some great visiting between the adults.  Stanton and I both were so thrilled with how perfect our backyard ended up being for the party.  What a blessing to live where we live and enjoy our wonderful home with our absolute favorite people in the world.

Now, a million pictures to capture the magic:

Cousins Chris and Chrystal, and Aunt Christie all stopped by for a visit.  Love having them around!!!  Also, Grandma J was able to spend the day with us.  It has been the most amazing blessing in disguise to have her gall bladder issue.  It has made it so that we are all able to spend so much more time with her because she is living with my mom and dad.  We have loved the extra time spent with this wonderful woman!

Mega cousin time!  Is there anything better?  Top to Bottom, Left to Right on each row:  Gavin, Gavin (covered in sand), Porter (enjoying the chickens), Morgan and Luke on the trampoline.
Cannon in brownie batter heaven, Lily and Jordyn warming up, Brigham freezing, Brigham warming up.
Kaleb freezing, Chloe warming up in her jammies, Eva the beautiful!, Luke (so handsome!).

The pre-lunch treat table.  It was occupied the entire time.  Everyone enjoyed a LOT of food!

A view of the backyard set up.

Suntanning, sandbox playing, water sliding (and tossing!), and trampoline jumping.  So much fun!

Charlie was a good boy and lounged in his play area in between visits from the kids.  I think it is so funny to see dogs sleep like this.

This water slide deserves its own post.  It's not getting one, but it deserves one!  The kids (and Cindy and I) had a blast on it!!

Big enough for a million kids to go down together!  Hours, literally hours of fun -- perfect for a hot summer day.

I have to admit that it's really hard for me to post these pictures because I look like an ogre in them, but I've got to keep it real!  And Cindy looks too good NOT to post these pictures.  This was one of our fun trips down the slide with a million kids. It was a blast!

This is my second favorite picture from the day.  Haha!!!

And this is my very favorite one.  All of us together!  Matt & Sara, Lori & Brad, Mom & Dad, Stanton & me, DJ & Cindy.  (and Porter wanting his momma!).  This is the best family.  I am blessed.  Truly, deeply blessed.  And grateful.

I hope we have the party here again next year -- and extend it longer than a day!

Happy Birthday, Chloe!

We waited 6 years, but we finally had a friend birthday party.  I'm pretty sure that's as early as I'll ever do it, too.  It was fun to be able to do some actual crafts and activities with them.
So, Chloe had 6 friends over plus her best buddy, Lily.  She even gave Lil an invitation.  We started the afternoon by making candy necklaces (Hobby Lobby Valentine Clearance...SCORE!).  After the necklaces, we made fleece scarves.  I got the idea from one of my fave craft blogs.  I cut everything out (including itty bitty holes in the middle of each flower) a couple of nights ago so the girls would just have to layer their flowers, secure them with a brad, and then have me glue them to the scarf.  It was a really fun activity and the girls were able to take home something useful and cute (instead of the whistles of death that Shaynna begged me not to send home in a gift bag ;)).

From Left to Right: Avery Anderson, Kennedy Hunt, London Lamb, Chloe Allen, Ava Checketts, Bethany Lloyd, Kaylee Shelton, and Lily Allen.

After the scarves, we hit the pinata that Chloe has been dying for since she was 3.  It was so funny to watch the different personalities of each girl.  Some were so timid and others just went for it.  I only got smacked in the leg once while holding the pinata up, so, you know, pretty successful!  

 

We did learn that anything breakable should NOT go in a pinata.  Their ring pops and Fun Dip sticks were all shattered to bits.  And that was pretty much the only thing in there besides some Chinese Finger Traps.  The fun was in the whacking of the pinata, though, so no harm done.

After the pinata, the kids decorated their own cupcakes.  They were cute and very messy.  Again, though, some of the girls were just as timid and neat as could be while others went for it and made a mess of themselves.  I love seeing the difference in their personalities.  By this time, Brigham was completely uninterested in the movie I had going for him and insisted on joining the party.  He hit the pinata and decorated cupcakes with the girls and was a little cutie.  Judy took Cannon, which turned out to be Heaven sent.

After cupcakes and fruit punch, we opened presents.  Chloe got some cute things -- coloring stuff, books, Littlest Pet Shops, and her dream come true, a Webkin!!!!  The girls were all as excited about giving their gifts as anything.

After gifts, we played a wild game of Don't Eat Pete.  Again with the differences in personalities.  It's such a fun game with no winners and no losers and lots of candy.  What more can you ask for?!

We had about 15 minutes left before moms were coming to pick up the girls and I was out of activities, so we read the books that London had given Chloe.  It actually ended up being a nice wind-down for the girls so they weren't leaving super hyper.

 

All in all, it was a super fun party.  I would have made it about 30 minutes shorter if I'd known how long each activity would take.  Being our first friend party, though, it was decent.  

And it would have been utter chaos if it hadn't been for this absolute gem of a person:

My wonderful Kiki.  

Oh, how I adore her.  She came right over after school and helped with everything.  She took pictures, she calmed crying Lilys, she cleaned up messes, she helped with crafts, she rocked my world, pretty much.  Love. This. Girl.

After the party, we had exactly one hour to eat, clean up, decorate Chloe's cake, and wrap presents (please don't bother me with the fact that two of those items could have been done the day before...I'm not interested in those details right now, har har) before Dave & Judy came over for Chloe's family birthday party at 6:00.  

Chloe totally saved my bacon by requesting "Pepperoni Pizza from a Store" for her birthday dinner.  Sold, Chica!!!!!  Papa John's delivered her dinner and we all ate frantically while cleaning up the party.  Kiki stayed for dinner and was, once again, a huge help.

So, we had about a half hour left before Gram and Grampa came and I still didn't have the cake decorated or presents wrapped.  Stanton to the rescue!  He decorated Chloe's cake for her and did such an awesome job on it!  She requested a "boot that stands up" for her cake, but after a lot of looking around for ideas on how to accomplish this, I asked her if she'd be willing to choose something else cowgirl-themed.  I showed her an idea for a horse's head a few days ago and she was totally happy with that.  Whew!  Stanton asked her what color she wanted her horse and she chose pink (another save, as I really didn't have time to make chocolate frosting and I had some white in a can that was perfectly easy to dye pink.)  I went into the office to wrap presents and came back to this masterpiece:

Isn't it awesome???!!!!!!  He cut it out and frosted it and decorated it perfectly!

So, we were ready just in time and said goodbye to Kiki about the same time we said hello to Dave & Judy.  They were so awesome to come spend the evening with Chloe.  (My folks are coming down on Friday for a little visit and another great present...)

We opened presents (she got Operation and Guess Who from Dave and Judy, a puzzle, a giant Littlest Pet Shop coloring book, a Littlest Pet Shop version of a Webkin, a watch, belts, and the gift we've been so excited to give her since I bought it on clearance before Christmas---- an iPod Shuffle!  She was ecstatic about all her gifts and took the time to read every card from her grandparents and primary teacher.  

We had cake and ice cream to end the night, with candles (don't foyget the fire, Mom!!!! - Brigham) and singing.

 

It ended up being such a fun celebration of our little sweetheart.  

These pictures Stanton took of Chloe have really made me stop and think.  She's still so little, yes, but we're really starting to see her mature in both her looks and her behavior.  We sure love her.

A Few Things I Love About Chloe:

*She is an amazingly adventurous eater.  She will eat pretty much anything I make and loves the non-kid-food-type things best.
*She went through a phase of disliking broccoli, but was willing to keep trying it every time I made it and now loves it again.
*She is a very good friend to those around her.  She recently went to the prinicipal's office after school to ask if anyone had turned in her friend, Winston's, coat.  She is always willing to share with others around her.
*She is absolutely fabulous with Cannon and he loves her for it.
*She is intelligent and loves school.
*She loves to move her body and exercise.
*She is very focused when she wants to accomplish something.
*She is becoming a very good artist.
*She is a spiritual little soul and recognizes when she's feeling the spirit.
*She is affectionate.

How we love our little Chloe Bird.  Happy Birthday, Sweetie!

Little Mama

I hosted a baby shower for Angie Day Chandler, my wonderful friend who knows my kids about as well as anyone.  She's the sweetheart who, along with Adam, her sweetie husband, tended our kids for 2 weeks just one month after they got married.  I know, they're the best.

Anyway, Angie is due with her first baby, a little boy named Dayton, the beginning of March.  We had a fun shower for her at the beginning of the month.

I didn't take any pictures of the festivities, which really frustrates me.  It wasn't like I did anything fancy, but it's just fun to remember things like that, ya know?  We had chicken salad sandwiches, veggies & dip, chocolate dipped strawberries, chocolate Rice Krispie treats, and Black Forest Cookies.  Also, my favorite party beverage ever, my Aunt Sheri's Fruit Slush.
We had a lot of friends from the neighborhood and a few from other parts of Angie's life, too.  I'm pretty sure she got some things she needed and it was just fun to celebrate.

Stanton did snap a couple of pictures of Angie and I together, which I really appreciated.  Isn't she a cutie?

 

One final little journaly-type note about this day -- 

Stanton took the boys for a drive and looking at skis while I had the shower (this picture was taken after everything was over and Stanton had come home).  I kept the girls with me and it was so fun.  Later that evening I went to a card party at Stanton's Aunt Jen's house and took the girls with me there, too.  I love that we're (finally) getting to a point where I can involve the girls in things like this and they are cooperative and even fun.  Just another realization that we're in a state of change right now in our family.  A good change, I might add.

Love you, Ang.  I hope the next couple of weeks go well and baby Dayton arrives safe and sound.

Rose Family Christmas Party

This was the driving and driving and driving weekend. After we drove home from the Park Valley party, we attended (and led and sang in) the Christmas Program in Sacrament Meeting. Then we threw everyone back in the car and drove to Blackfoot for the Greg Rose Family Christmas Party. More time with Matt & Sara and all the rest. It was great.

Grandma J was there. She is the best grandma. Love her.



Gavin (of the Florida clan). He was so cute and comfortable with everyone everywhere. He would walk up to everyone and say, "What's your name?"
One of my fave conversations of the week:
Gavin to Lily: What's your name?
Lily mischievously: Lightning McQueen.
Gavin: No it's not! Your name is Lily!
Gavin to me: What's your name?
Me mischievously: Susan.
Gavin: Oh. Walks away...



Luke, who is growing up faster than he has my permission to do. I think he is so handsome.



There was a point where I thought I might agree with the over-population theory. Then I looked at my nieces and nephews and thought, "Nah, those people haven't been around these kids."



You know, maybe there's a reason he's so grumpy all the time....



Lily & Jordyn with their matching purple magnet boards that my momma made for all the granddaughters (not all purple, of course).



Not only is he a beautiful child,
He's also quite possibly the funnest child to give gifts to. Ever.



And my mom is the funnest adult to give gifts to. Ever. Seriously. She cries at everything so you really feel like you've given her the perfect gift every time. This time, it actually was the perfect gift. Regan, niece and granddaughter extraordinaire, had every grandchild either write or dictate to her their favorite thing/memory about Grandma and Grandpa. She decorated a box and put them all inside. It was super cute and so thoughtful. And Mom & Dad cried.



I miss them like crazy.



My sissies. Lori in the background. Cindy in the foreground. Kamryn the cutest.



How you doin'?

All in all, it was such a super great day. I love love love my family.

Park Valley Christmas Party

We had the Rose Family Christmas Party Extravaganza on the 18th of December. It was so stinking fun. Those parties always are. It was made even more awesome than usual by the attendance of Matt & Sara, my Florida family!
The food was, as always at any Rose function, amazing. Seriously. If you haven't been to a Rose Family Function, you don't know what amazing food is.

A slew of pictures:


With my sisters. Lori on top, Cindy in the middle. Sara on the bottom.
Oh, how I love these people. My best friends in the world.



Fun games, courtesy of the Paynes.



The program. Everyone was so great. Chloe sang, "Cactus Christmas Tree", Lily sang "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", and Brigham sang, "Spiderman." Regan organized and rehearsed a cousins number -- that's the pictures above. She played the piano and they all sang (a fancy arrangment). It was awesome.


Welcome home, Chris! Be so good to Chrystal. I love her. I think you will be...look how cute you are with Cannon!

Speaking of cute. Is this child not adorable? He is. Even when he's a demon sleeper who wakes up four times a night. I want to throw him out the window at 3:23 am, but at 3:23 pm? Oh, he's gem.


"Brigham in heaven." That's a Batwing. Notice the Batman shirt. Yes...Heaven.

Grandma & Grandpa Rose give pajamas to everyone every year. While these pictures were uploading, I counted how many pair that is. 65, people. Sixty-five pair of pajamas. They are incredible. This is them with all the cousins and second cousins.


These four boys were born within 13 months of each other. Oh, they are cute together. L to R: Kaleb James Teichert, Gavin Gregory Rose, Brigham David Allen, Jack Henry Wilson. Together: Trouble. Actually, they're not at that stage yet, but I can only imagine it's not far off.