The End of 2010

Cooper enjoyed wearing his dad's Christmas ties to church this month :)

What a CRAZY year it has been! We've had so many ups and downs and I am happy to see this year go!  2011 looks like it's going to be a great year with loads of potential for good times. Although this year has been incredibly challenging, I am grateful for those challenges as we are more appreciative of what we have and our marriage and family are stronger and better than ever before. December has been a fun month. We added 2 new additions to our family-Gus and Harry. I have wanted to get kittens for years and the time was right. I found them on craigslist and since they were free, cute, and not feral, I couldn't resist. The kids love them (but I think I love them the most!) and Alison, the dog, is not too sure about the whole idea.

Dakota and Gus

Taylor reading a book to Harry (as in Potter)

We went to Rob and Jan's to do a nativity with the kids.  We didn't really plan it out ahead of time and the end result was pretty ghetto.  The kids seemed to enjoy themselves and I enjoyed a good laugh!

The angel Dakota

Mary and Joseph

Mary riding the donkey (aka Jan).  This was unexpected and hilarious!

Baby Jesus (aka Cooper) wasn't too thrilled about the whole idea and wanted his mama!

The audience

Our beautiful babies

We went to my parent's house on Christmas Eve Eve.  Danny/Leanne and fam and Clark/Loni/Faye were there too!  Kendal was working, but we did get to see him during some family photos on Christmas Eve and he and Sabrina came over Christmas morning!  It was fun to have all my sibs and their families together.

Green sweater men (Loni bought a bunch of green shirts at Salvation Army to make a stocking for Faye.  I think the guys looked pretty dashing!)

The cousins enjoying each other

We went to Richard's family Christmas Eve party and had a great time.  The kids played and enjoyed their cousins and received many fun gifts.  Santa even stopped by! 

Christmas Eve jammies

Christmas morning was great!  There were people and presents everywhere, yet it was surprisingly mellow.  Santa pulled off yet another great Christmas and the kids were thrilled with their gifts.

The kids and their stockings

Cooper received many "man toys" and was quite happy.  He got a weed wacker, lawn mower, blower, and chain saw set from Santa plus Grammy and Papi got him some tools and Mama Spencer got him a guitar!  He was a VERY happy camper!

Taylor got the cake factory she requested and Dakota got her Baby Alive!

I LOVE this baby!!!

We headed home Christmas morning since Richie had to go to work that afternoon.  The kids have been playing with all their loot and we are all pretty pooped!  Now that the holidays are over, I look forward to getting into a new groove and moving forward in our lives.  Things are so good!

Snow in Bakersfield?

Cooper dumped the contents of our paper shredder (it was completely full!) in the office one day.  I was in the middle of doing something and completely forgot to clean it up.  The next morning as I was getting everything ready for Taylor to go to school, Dakota came prancing down the hall with handfuls of shredded paper and as she frolicked, she tossed it in the air all over the living room.  Well Cooper could not miss out on the fun so he too went down the hall and emerged with his own giant fistfuls which he distributed all over the living room.  I was not too thrilled about the whole situation and thought for sure that Richard would not be too excited about it when he got home from the gym.  Richard walked into the house, said, "Oh my goodness..." and surprised us all by continuing, "it snowed in our house!!!"  It was on!!!  Taylor, Dakota, and Cooper were grabbing fistfuls of 'snow' and had an all-out snowball fight!  They had a blast!  Lately, there has not been enough time in the day to get everything done that's been going on.  This was another particularly busy day and the mess had to be left as it was for a day or two.  Unfortunately, this caused our entire house to be covered with 'snow'!  Every square foot of our 1400 square foot house was covered in shredded paper.  We finally were able to get it all cleaned up, but it still shows up every now and again.  A big mess, but a super fun memory for the kids.  I guess that's what life is all about, making memories and having fun with our loved ones.

 A sample of the floor:

Even poor Alison couldn't escape it.  (This was taken a day later in the evening.)

 

Ward Christmas Party

Our ward Christmas party was very nice this year.  The highlight for my kids was Santa'a visit.  Cooper was especially excited to tell him that he wanted a "weedtacker lawnmower" for Christmas this year.  They were all happy to take a turn on his knee!

Buckets

I love these buckets for toys:

(I have one of these for each of the kids rooms...this one is empty because the girls are now in one room...a useless bit of information, but I'm letting you know anyway.)



The only problem is when someone wants to make one of these:

They have to do this:

Fortunately, the culprit looks like this:



So many options...

Cooper has mastered the skill of getting dressed and undressed by himself.  He changes his clothes so many times during the day that I thought I would document it.  This particular day was actually a slow day for him, but all of these changes ocurred between the hours of 6am and 9am.  He is such a nut.

Meeting Baby Faye

The kids finally got to meet their new cousin, Faye Marie.  They LOVE her (and so do I!)!  

Notice Dakota's beautiful forehead.  Poor girl!

Cooper LOVES to hold the baby!