christmas eve

we were PRAYING for a white christmas and look what we woke up to christmas eve! it was so perfect. kev had the day off so the kids had a blast playing in it with him.

 

 

we had a nice relaxing day together. we went to see rise of the guardians (so cute), helped the kids draw names and then went to the toy store so they could pick out a gift for each other. then we went home to watch christmas movies, relax, open their gifts from the grandparents (christmas pj's and legos and princess goods), read the christmas story, and play with the train. 

 

 

 

in our new pj's. poor maddy wasn't feeling so hot! she perked up after her tylenol kicked in. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the joys of having big brothers. this picture makes me laugh.

christmas countdown

only two days until christmas and maddy woke up with some kind of bug! such a bummer. i went to church by myself while kevin kept the kids and took care of the sick one. 

while i was gone owen decided to pull out his sketch pad and drew an pretty cute picture.



who's excited!?!? 

 

christmas weekend with the manwarings

oh, what fun! we squeezed it all the weekend before christmas with all my siblings and their families. it was wonderful to see them all.

we gathered on friday night in blackfoot at justin's home to start our annual progressive dinner. emily and brandon showed up as eddie and catherine from christmas vacation (our families FAVORITE movie to watch during the holidays).it was HILARIOUS! i wish i would have gotten a picture of them together, but i did manage to snag this hot one of brandon! lol!



thanks for the laugh. then we continued on stopping at my house, ben's, and jarom's. it was a nice night.

first thing saturday morning we were up and at 'em getting ready for our family picture. we asked the photographer and friend who does my family pictures each year to do them. i can't wait to see them all. kevin caught a few shots with his camera. it was FREEZING cold (like 19 degrees) so we got it done pretty quick. 

owen "holding"grandma's coat while she had her picture taken.

the grandkid picture is ALWAYS entertaining. they had to work hard to keep a couple little ones in the picture. knock down, hold out! lol. 

sweet wesley.

after pictures we grabbed some lunch and then met up so the cousin's could draw names, get their dollar from grandpa, and then head over to the dollar store to buy gifts for each other. they came home and had a wrapping party and then were off with the dads to the church gym to play while the moms started getting dinner ready and planning the nativity program.

dinner was delicious and the program was so sweet.  

madalyn was a beautiful little angel.

we spent the rest of the evening playing games and then we had to say goodbye. it was such a wonderful time.

 

 

the christmas express

a few days before christmas kevin and i planned a christmas express night. we read about it on pinterest and decided we just had to do it.

so, we had the kids get their pj's on and while they were brushing their teeth to go to bed i went and put golden tickets on each of their pillows.

owen was the first one to bed and he threw his covers off his bed so quick he didn't even notice the ticket as it flew underneath his bed. kevin and i both laughed and tried to distract him while i climbed underneath his bed to retrieve it and place it back on his pillow.

THEN, he noticed it!

the other two quickly ran to their beds to see if they had one as well. it was great! so we explained that we were going on the christmas express (our honda) and to get in the car.

everyone was ecstatic except for wesley. i helped him get this shoes on and he shared his concern about leaving home this late in his pajamas. i told him it was okay and it was going to be fun! then he  cried, "but mom, i've never been on a real train!" it was so sweet. i clarified that we were only getting into our car and driving around to see christmas lights and drinking hot chocolate. ha. then he was fine.



kevin even punched their tickets as they hopped in. and he made a convincing ticket master. :)

we had a magical time! so fun. 

blurb book 8

it's been over a YEAR since i last printed a book. i'm a little bit behind. but, it felt good when book #8 arrived in the mail. i always load my next book as soon as i finish one, but it seems to take awhile to get back to it.



i didn't have a "family picture" during this six month period so i improvised.

here are some of my favorite pages. 

 

 

 

 

xylophone

monday night was our monthly manwaring family home evening. aunt sue and uncle brett invited each of the famlies to do a performance about christ. i asked owen and wesley to play a couple christmas songs on the xylophone (they use the xylophone in their let's play music class) and gave them a couple day to practice. owen memorized his and wesley was so brave, considering he was in TEARS when i asked him. they made me proud!

 

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indoor soccer

the boys have been playing indoor soccer. this is owen's second year and wesley's first. they have both REALLY enjoyed it.


wesly's team 

owen's team

looks like we will be doing this again. 

happy birthday dad!

my dad turned 61 last week.

i thought this picture of him and halle was so cute.

 

happy birthday dad! we love you! 

doctor

this little girl can make me smile one second only to drive me completely batty the next. we have a special relationship. ;) but, i sure do love her.

lately, she is getting so chatty, so creative, and so BIG! some things she does are just laughable.

i saw her playing with her dolls in the kitchen yesterday. she was tracing each of them and talking to them so sweetly as she did. "such a good girl", "you are doing so good", "it's okay baby, almost done". it was so darn cute.

 

 

 

 

it reminded me of the annual exams i took the kids to in november. we hadn't gone in YEARS and so i thought it was about time. maddy and wes went a few days before owen. owen was in pure agony when he heard we were going to the doctors. when he asked maddy what they do she said matter-of-factly, "owen, all you have to do is pull down your underwear and then they give you crayons to color!" ha. for some reason that didn't ease his mind. ;) 

happy birthday kevin

saturday we celebrated kevin's 34th birthday! well, we actually started celebrating friday night when kevin and i went on a double date with our friends the allen's. we did texas roadhouse and james bond. it was a very nice evening! saturday came quickly as we were up early to do our birthday breakfast and then off to ogden manwaring's baptism in blackfoot, id.




kevin received his traditional gift of a lego advent calendar (with a birthday on december 1st it just makes sense). it's the gift that keeps on giving...to everyone! the kids love it!

after a good time at the baptism and lunch with my family we were off to a matinee (wreck-it-ralph) and then we did dinner at papa tom's, kevin's favorite.

it was nice to be home that night and relax. it wasn't long after the cake and ice cream that kevin was sound asleep (8:30pm) all cozy on the couch with football on. we had a great day!

we love our hard working daddy! 

 

cozied up

maddy's little buddy, cooper, was over the other day and they cozied up to share a christmas story.