Visiting Santa

We had a fun church Christmas party. The theme was Christmas morning, and those in attendance could wear their pajamas if they wanted. For dinner we had breakfast casseroles, muffins, fruit, milk and juice. We sang the 12 days of Christmas, had some musical performances, and a short skit that talked about the symbols of Christmas. Some of our girls participated in that. It was a nice evening and so fun to celebrate Christmas.

 Laurel and Santa

 Santa with Bethany, Katelyn and Samantha

Mackenzie and her friends with Santa

 Even Derek posed with Santa

 Bethany wanted another turn. It was likely the candy cane at the end that brought her back

Laurel in the Christmas symbols skit

Love Christmas time!

We love Christmas season around here. We enjoy hearing and singing christmas music. We love to visit a popular creche exhibit in our area. Christmascreche.org. Hannah sang and played with Zion Choir there this year.  (see videos below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_5JI2idxNE&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSPpzXjRYsQ

We enjoy decorating our christmas tree. This year we cut down a tree from the mountains. It's always fun choosing with the kids. They get so excited about it all, they put Christmas lights in their rooms too.

Bethany

 Katelyn

 Laurel

Next week we'll go to Bethlehem, the one in Santa Clara, CA. A wonderful Bethlehem village is created and a live nativity happens every night for five nights. Comes with great costumed characters, music and hot chocolate!  http://bethlehemsc.com/ We also have upcoming parties at our church and homeschool co-op to look forward to.

Of course, much of our time is spent making lists of what gifts we want to give and to whom, and then shopping for the. I find that part a lot of fun. This season also brings many opportunities to help others and donate when a need is presented. Those are more anonymous gifts and I almost prefer that over the gift tag with names. I love this Christmas time that reminds us of the most important gift any of us has ever received-Jesus Christ.

Enjoy this great video with that very message. Merry Christmas!
http://www.mormon.org/christmas

Prom

Hannah went to her first Prom this year. It was an LDS Prom (put on every year, and located at different church buildings each year) which can be attended in lieu of or in addition to a local high school prom. She was asked to go with a young man in our ward, and they went as a group with many other friends. It was held in Monterey, CA and the theme was A Night at the Oscars. She had a fun time. Derek and I spent the evening in the area since we drove our van full of 5 couples to and from the dance. Here are some pictures before and during the dance.

Preston and Hannah

 Hannah and Preston with two other couples they were going with

Hannah and some girl friends who came over before the dance to get ready

 the girls posing

 Hannah with Bethany (who did not want to smile)

 at the dance, taking pictures with props

Easter

This year the girls decided they wanted to join with some church friends at a park for their Easter Egg Hunt. In years past we've done it in our own yard. While the older kids went climbing and rapelling with Dad on the Saturday before Easter, I took Bethany, Katelyn, Laurel and Samantha to the park for the hunt.We had a potluck lunch before hand and some playing, and then the Easter Egg Hunt began. I spent most of my time with Bethany, who needed some guidance. Once she got her basket filled, she didn't need any help at all.

 Bethany has learned to love the surprises inside Easter eggs

 Samantha enjoying the hunt

 Laurel with a mouthful of candy after gathering eggs.

Katelyn, Bethany, and a friend

All of the kids enjoyed some fun gifts from Grandma Taylor on Saturday as well. Sunday they received a basket with "spiritual" Easter gifts(books, cd, dvd)  for to help them celebrate Easter. We also enjoyed a wonderful ham and potato dinner with the elder missionaries as our guests.

April Birthdays

We've now hit the time of  year when the kids birthdays begin (April to October) and I watch them keep growing up. It's so fun to see the older (and hopefully wiser) each year, but I also wish I could hold on to their little selves forever.

Jamie started it off with her birthday early in the month. She turned 11. Jamie is a lovely girl with a beautiful smile. She has a lot of energy for life and is quite confident in her ability to do many things. She loves reading, playing and listening to music, acting, outdoor activities of all kinds and spending time with family and friends.
It's true she doesn't care for chores and certain foods, but she is a happy, adventurous girl who is a lot of fun to have in our family!

Red velvet cake and ice cream for her birthday. Yum!

Adam's birthday came a week after Jamie's. He turned 15. Of any of the kids, I think he will win for most growth in the past year. He added some inches in height, some deepness in his voice and a lot more appetite. Also a good amount of maturing.  Adam continues to enjoy computer related anything, but is also into reading, scout outings, and playing with his sisters. He even has little "brothers" who love to spend time with him programming the NXT robot or shooting nerf guns. He has been working on his Eagle scout project and hopes to finish that soon. He's our one and only boy and we're glad he's in our family!

 Strawberry cake and dark chocolate frosting. Mom's favorite too!

Adam enjoying a birthday gift--remote control helicopter. He loves it. His other favorite gift was a large bog of Fruit Loops! (food is always a winner with him)

St. Patrick's Day

I love this holiday. It's main color is green, which is my favorite. My maiden name is very Irish--O'Dwyer. Growing up near my O'Dwyer grandparents and extended family, we celebrated our heritage on (or near) St. Patrick's Day each year.  It was fun to get together and eat food, enjoy chocolate coins from grandma's black pot of gold, sing Irish songs, hear stories about ancestors, and sometimes watch silly leprechaun movies. I love having memories like that.

I'm sorry to say that I haven't done well at keeping up with fun traditions like that in my only family. I think in the last year or two, as I've had a break from years of pregnancy and nursing, that I can earnestly make an effort to do some fun things with the kids and get some new traditions established.

The last couple of years we have had Bangers and Mash for dinner on St. Patrick's Day. A super delicious meal of sausage and mashed potatoes is certainly fun. And a few times we've had green cream of wheat (farina) for breakfast. Though today, our two little girls wouldn't touch it. I think the color spooked them.

However, I finally added something new this year. This morning I told the children that I caught a leprechaun, and he had shown me a pot of gold. As they did their chores they would find shamrocks, that they could then redeem for something from the pot of gold. They loved it! Chores were done diligently this morning that's for sure, and even now that chores are done, they continue looking for shamrocks. It's likely they'll find them here and there throughout the day.  :)

 One of the many places a shamrock could be found

 Katelyn (4) showing a shamrock she found when getting ready for the day

The pot of gold!

And for Derek, who is missing all this fun, I've got a fun treasure hunt for him later tonight. I found it on http://www.thedatingdivas.com/, an awesome website with ideas for dating and showing love to spouse and children. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The little girls

Now that Bethany is no longer sleeping in a crib, we are now using the trundle bed under the bunk bed. The girls love to play on it together. Here are some pictures one night at bedtime.

 Katelyn and Bethany

Katelyn, who is 4, has long bangs that continually fall in front of her face. One day I kept moving them over and tucking them behind her ear. After doing this a couple of times I said to her, "We should put a barrett in to keep the bangs out of your eyes."  She then replied, "I like my bangs in my eyes, it looks cool." I had no idea being cool started so early!

Laurel and Katelyn

 Bethany-- 2 1/2years

Bethany loves to sing, either on her own or with others who are singing. With the Frozen songs being so popular in our home right now, she's finally picked up the tune and some words of Let it Go.  One Sunday I learned that she was singing Let it Go, while the other kids in her nursery class were singing the regular primary songs.

 Derek reading a story to Laurel

Laurel was so excited to have loose teeth finally. She is 6 and 1/2 years old and has been anxiously waiting. Recently her first one came out and she was very happy to show it off and put it under her pillow for the tooth fairy. It was great to see her so happy about a quarter the next morning.  :)

These little ones are wonderful!

Birthday surprise!

Derek went all out this year for my birthday with a short getaway. It was the week after my birthday and the location and activities a surprise. I love to travel, especially the planning part of it. I was super excited for a trip, but also just dying to know some details. But I managed to endure the wait.

We made all our arrangements for the kids (Hannah in charge, with neighbors closely watching) and left on a Thursday to the airport. There it was disclosed that we were heading to Las Vegas, primarily to get to see some shows I was interested in. The Donny and Marie Show (which is fabulous! if any of you happen to be in Vegas) and a Cirque du Soleil show, O.

Derek made the trip especially fun by reserving an awesome suite at the Bellagio, and spoiling us with VIP service. It was so fun to enjoy limo rides to a from the airport, chocolate covered strawberries, spa treatments, great seats at the shows, and wonderful meals. We tried to avoid all the "sin" in that city, and enjoy the beautiful architecture, fountains, dolphins at the Mirage, view from the Eiffel tower, etc. We really had a great time, just the two of us. Thank you so much Derek!

 the Bellagio

The Conservatory, decorated for Chinese New Year

 View from the "Eiffel Tower"

At the Donny and Marie show

 In the evening after the Donny and Marie Show

 Fountains going off, Paris hotel is across the street

in front of Ceasar's Palace

Climbing walls

Our kids have always been interested in climbing walls. And furniture and tables and....

Last year Derek attended some scout climbing training and has been eager to show the older kids how fun it is. Our four oldest were eager to learn. He started in January with indoor climbing, at Planet Granite.

Jamie discovered she was good at climbing and was happy to make it to the top

 Mackenzie found out that her muscles weren't quite prepared for all the work. But she enjoyed it.

Adam getting ready for his climb

 Hannah had a good time too but also felt her arms need to be stronger

Mackenzie, Jamie, Hannah and Adam after their climbs.

Way to go guys!

Fall 2013 (September to November)

So the school year started. I like to take pictures of the kids at the beginning of the year and at the end. Below is the first round.

Bethany--2

Katelyn--4

Laurel--6

 Samantha--7

 Jamie--10

 Mackenzie--12

 Adam--14 (couldn't seem to get a non squinty picture out of him)

Hannah--16

Derek and I were given tickets to a San Francisco Giants game (thank you Lanyi's!) and so we enjoyed a Saturday night game. We decided we would ride the CalTrain up there, and after we got the tickets, we realized the game tickets were still in the car. Our train was about to come and since it only comes once an hour on weekends, we knew we wouldn't make it back from the car in time. So we were bummed, but we quickly went with the next option which was driving up. Since we had planned on the train, we hadn't prepared to pay for parking at the game. Turns out the price of parking is a lot more than we remembered it was ($35!), so we had a bit of scrambling for change and relying on the mercies of the attendants to let us park. So despite the early stress, and the Giants losing, we had a great time together. Love those garlic fries!

  So Laurel had her birthday! She turned six and was glad that after many months of waiting, her birthday had arrived. Instead of cake and ice cream, she chose chocolate covered strawberries. We made them ourselves and they were delish! Great choice! We sure love our sweet and energetic Laurel! She's one of my best helpers in the kitchen and on shopping trips.

 Bethany definitely enjoyed her chocolate strawberries!

 Here's three sweet girls at the beginning of October. Bethany, Laurel and Samantha

 Notice how short Bethany's bangs are compared to the previous pictures. Yep, big sister Katelyn took some scissors to her head. And Bethany so calmly stood there while she got a haircut. 

 Sweet Katelyn on her 4th birthday. Can't tell from her sweet face that she is very good at making all kinds of messes and sneakily taking candy from older sisters rooms when they're not looking.  :)

 Love this picture of Laurel and Katelyn, such great buddies.

Just a few days later we celebrated Samantha's 8th birthday. She was so excited too. Especially because she has a friends party and baptism to look forward to.

Adam enjoying a pizza dinner with friends before the priesthood session of conference

After we enjoyed Samantha's birthday celebrations and some General Conference sessions, Hannah and I flew to Arizona to meet up with my in-laws. From there we flew to the east coast for a week tour of Boston and New York City. I'll give the details and pictures of that trip in a separate post.

 Laurel enjoying the playground in our backyard

Katelyn and Bethany enjoying the swing

 Katelyn and Bethany, seen together again, as they are getting to be good friends

 Samantha pictured in a baptism dress, to be put on her invitations to her baptism

 Samantha at her birthday party

 Bethany enjoying the cupcakes at the party. She has learned to love sweets like the rest of us

 Samantha with Laurel and the other friends who came to her party

Adam getting out of the American River near Sacramento, after just having jumped into from a tree swing

Adam with other varsity scouts on this fun activity. They did some canoeing on the river and then spent some time jumping in and swimming

Halloween...not my favorite holiday. Mostly because of excessive candy and awful decor and costumes you see when out shopping. I actually really love autumn time. However the kids love Halloween, and so we celebrate it to some degree. Adam has refused to wear a costume for a number of years now. While out shopping with my parents during their visit, we saw this shirt and got it for Adam to wear. He loved it of course.

 Jamie, Katelyn, Laurel and Samantha in their costumes, ready to go trick or treating

 We also got Bethany a cute shirt (so we could avoid the usual troubles of getting a toddler to wear a costume), She didn't want to smile for the picture, even with daddy in it.

One of the jack o lanterns the kids designed on our front porch

A fun picture taken at the California Academy of  Sciences in San Francisco with my parents and all the children (Derek was at work)

Samantha's baptism day, early November. Samantha and Derek with Grandpa and Grandma O'Dwyer. Derek's parents were there also, but that picture turned out super blurry.(bummer!) We are sure grateful to our parents who spend the time and money to come and support our family, especially for special events in our children's lives.

 Our family

 Adam having fun at Planet Granite during a Varsity Scout activity

 The little girls playing games one evening. Laurel especially had been getting interested in chess

 Thanksgiving morning, Derek, myself and Hannah went to a huge turkey trot in San Jose. Hannah and I ran the 5k, Derek the 10k. Wow, I found out how out of shape I am for running. We decided to do this last minute, so I hadn't been preparing the previous weeks. It was not fun to come home only to have to finish preparing Thanksgiving dinner and be limping around all day like a cripple. It was a good experience however, and I hope next year if we do this again, I'll get more prepared and schedule dinner later.  :)

2013 was a great year for us!