Christmas 2011

Ever since we have moved to Riverton we have had the same Christmas routine. We head to Logan the day a few days before so that we can enjoy the Smith family Christmas Eve party but then we make the 1 1/2 hour trek home late that night so that we can have Christmas morning at our own house. This year however, the Christmas eve party was going to be about an hour drive up Logan Canyon which would make our drive home in the middle of the night even longer. My my mom suggested the idea of having both my sister and I with our families do Christmas at her house this year. At first all I could think of is the amount of work it would take to pull that off but the more I thought about it the more I liked it. Adree has not done Christmas in Logan for the past six or seven years so it sounded kind of fun to be all together for once. Troy was a bit reluctant (as was I) simply because we have come to cherish our quiet Christmas mornings with our kids and the thought of all the chaos and hauling everything to Logan was less than appealing. But, it didn't take long for us to climb on board with the plan and began loading our car floor to ceiling with our Christmas paraphernalia.

It turned out to be a wonderful Christmas and all of our fears or apprehensions were for nothing. It couldn't have gone smoother. In fact when I asked Hope what her favorite gift was for Christmas she said, "My I-touch! No, wait. My favorite gift was getting to spend Christmas with all my cousins and family." How cute is that!

Since Christmas was on a Sunday we started our morning by attending a wonderful Sacrament meeting at my parents ward. We thought the kids would be going crazy about having to wait to open their presents but they didn't even make a peep about it.

Grandpa Tom and Grandma Diane joined us after church for the unveiling of the presents. I had to take this picture because I ended up having to wrap all our presents once we got there so I recruited my sister and dad's help. I had three coordinating papers and tried to give each girl a few of each pattern. You can imagine their reactions. My dad could not understand why he couldn't add whatever paper he wanted and kept trying to be "helpful" by adding new patterns to the mix. I know it's crazy but back me up here - look how fun and festive it looks!



A few of Hope's favorite gifts this year: Pogo-Stick, I-touch 4th gen, Orbeez


Caymbree's favorites: This "American Girl Doll" (which it is so NOT but no matter how many times I tell her that she still insists that it is.), an I-touch, and an chalk/white board easel.


Hallee's favorites: A ripstick, I-touch 4th gen, and donut maker







After opening our gifts the rest of the clan came over for our traditional Christmas breakfast of egg casserole, breakfast cake and crepes. So so yummy!

We then spent the rest of the day hanging out, playing on my dad's new ping pong table (our gift to him), watching movies, dancing with the Just Dance Wii game, and eating ourselves sick.
The kids were in heaven getting to hang out with their cousins all day.

(My parents gave all the grandkids bathrobes instead of pj's this year. The kids loved them!)

It was such a fun Christmas and we felt truly blessed!

Twas the night before Christmas 2011

Twas the night before Christmas when all through the lodge crazy things started happening it was quite a hodge podge...

The girls in their jammies became such a sight, with noses like piggies it gave all a good fright. When the boys started dancing all started to gleam but by the end of the dance the poor boys wanted to scream.

But the best part of all was having Grandpa Smith with us there, for this week in the hospital he gave us all quite the scare!

And that my friends in the end of my rhyming attempt. I am sure you are grateful! Christmas Eve was spent up Logan Canyon at the Beaver Creek Lodge. It was so much fun and the Crosbie Clan did such a great job with the festivities. However, plans almost took a drastic turn when about a week prior my Grandpa ended up in the Intensive Care unit at the hospital. It got scary enough that at one point they were not sure he would make it through it. Thankfully he made a miraculous recovery and exceeded even the doctors expectations and by Christmas was well enough to spend the day with us.

(Grandpa and Grandma Smith with their great grandchildren}

For one of the evenings activities each family was given a bag full of candy. You were to build Santa's sleigh using only the things found in the bag. Then each family came up to race their sleigh. So creative!

The daytime was spent playing in the snow. (What little there was of it anyway). It was an absolutely gorgeous day and was actually quite warm. We all had to start shedding our layers!

Caymbree informed us the entire drive up the canyon that she was NOT going to go sledding. According to her the ONLY place she will do it is in G&G back yard. Ok. Whatever. Imagine my shock when she jumped on the tube and squealed with delight the entire way down. Little stinker.

The original plan was to do a little snowmobiling. However, with the little amounts of snow around we decided it was best to just stick close to the lodge and pull the kiddos around on sleds.

TIs the season

Tis the season... for drill competitions, classroom parties, holiday festivities, buying presents, wrapping presents, making food, eating food, family time, friends, holiday cards, candy canes and oh so much more. In the middle of it all we managed to add in a few more holiday activities.

When we lived in Logan it seemed like we made it down to see the lights at temple square pretty often. In the five years we have lived in Riverton we have yet to do it. How is that possible? I was determined that we would do it this year!

Of course the camera battery lasted for a whole TWO pictures! Go figure. After visiting the lights we jumped on Trax and headed to the Grand America Hotel. They have a fun little picture scavenger hunt through the main floor where once you complete it you can redeem your card for a cookie at the cookie shop. It was warm, beautiful, and best of all NO CROWDS! I think my kids enjoyed it even more than seeing the lights.

Also on the December calendar was Hope and Hallee's school choir Christmas concert. They have been waking up early once a week since September for the practices. I was so proud of their determination and desire to do it and so grateful for the teachers who made it all possible by volunteering their services.

The girls with some of their best supporters!

Hope and Hallee did choir with their friends Marley and Ivy Telford

Pinch me please!

New year. Same craziness. Things always get a little hectic this time of year for me with a competition to plan, 2 birthdays to pull off, Christmas and everything that comes with it. This year we added a few more things to the nut farm with Troy's calling, me adding another dance competition to plan and prepare for and me taking on a part time job doing a long term substitute position. I'm not going to lie. Sometimes it seems like more than I can handle. My mom happened to catch me in one of those moments where I felt like I was on the verge of a meltdown. When she asked what she could do I was quick to suggest taking the kids for a few days while they were off track. She was happy to oblige.

So after my two day girls weekend she packed up the girls and took them to Logan for four days. Holy cow. Is it bad to say that it was absolutely AMAZING, REJUVENATING and an unbelievably PRODUCTIVE four days? I think it should be a yearly requirement for every marriage. And while you would think that we would take advantage of a no-kid house and go out to dinner and on date nights we did just the opposite. We wrapped up in warm cozy blankets, turned on movies, got out both of our laptops and worked like crazy. Sounds less than romantic but actually it was! Eventually we would get hungry so we would stop and go make dinner together. We ran our errands together. We actually got to talk uninterrupted. Can't remember the last time that happened.

And while we missed our kiddos I realized that I had missed by hubby and was reminded why I fell in love with him in the first place. Our lives get so crazy that we go into roommate mode simply crossing paths during the day. So a huge, gigantic thank you to my parents and a huge I love you to the hubby. I was able to scratch obscene amounts of things of the to-do list and feel like I can actually breath again.

And while I'm rambling can I just give a shout out to the most amazing friends in the entire world. I don't know how I got so lucky to find these ladies and you know who you are. They are my key to sanity! I can't even begin to tell you how many hours they have my children while I am working, judging, or who knows what else. They are my shoulder to cry on, my ears to vent to, my brains to bounce ideas off of. So while I'm handing out the love - here's to you girls! Can't thank you enough!

Annual Girls weekend

FOOD - SHOPPING - GIRLS ONLY WEEKEND = I {HEART} YOU!!!

Can't believe it's that time again when my mom, sis, sis-in law and cousin do our annual Christmas shopping weekend. We combined it with Adree's big 30th birthday bash and partied like rock stars by shopping at Walmart in the wee hours of the night. What can I say....we are animals! I made Adree this awesome crown and sash which I made her wear throughout the night. Own it baby! You only turn the big 3-0 once!

My mom always provides lots of laughs on our getaways even when she doesn't mean to. She is a creature of habit and always losing SOMETHING during our excursions. Last time she just thought she lost something and after putting us all on high alert, retracing our steps and calling the restaurant she realized she hadn't lost it after all. It was in her bag the whole time. THIS time however, she really did lose something and it wasn't a small something...her Ipad. I thought the woman was going to have a nervous breakdown. She lives, eats, and breaths with that thing by her side. Luckily we hadn't gone far and were able to go back to the restaurant where luckily they had found it.

Our other laugh came from this picture. We always stay at the Courtyard Marriott where they have the best continental breakfast. My mom is obsessed with their Belgium waffles and every time we go she points out to all of us how amazing they are. She even went out an bought similar waffle maker and has tried numerous recipes trying to replicate their waffles. Just a little obsessive don't ya think? On this trip she once again striked up a conversation with the kitchen staff about what makes their waffles so good. They were super cute and even though they had to think she was slightly crazy they gave her all their secrets in amazing detail. Before you know it they have called over the manager to ask if she can buy a bag of the mix. As you can see....she got it. It was her most prized purchase of the weekend.

Just had to document our first trip to the Utah H&M. Let's just say "overrated!"

Thanks for the laughs girls. Till next year...

Happy Birthday Hopers!!!

For Hope's 7th birthday she decided she wanted to take a couple of friends to the Mayan for dinner. (Mexican restaurant with high divers that jump off cliffs during dinner). Sounded easy enough and required very little effort on my part. PERFECT! I have more than I can handle on my plate right now so I was actually grateful for the choice. About two weeks before the big day we heard the news on the radio. The Mayan had closed its doors for good. Oh crud. Now what?

Hope's second choice was a friend birthday party which pretty much terrified me considering my to-do list. With a little brainstorming we came up with a fuss free PAJAMA party.

What Pajama party would be complete without a PILLOW FIGHT and a game of FREEZE DANCE? Gotta say, these girls can move!

The girlies watched Hopes favorite movie "LITTLE RASCALS." (Gotta say it's actually one of mine too!)

Hope was such a gracious recipient and took the time to give each one of her friends a gigantic hug after each gift. It's one of the things we love most about Hope. Her passion and love for life is contagious. She LOVED each and every gift and made such a big deal about each one. So cute!

Hope was VERY particular when it came to her birthday cake. Absolutely NO CUPCAKES! She insisted on the red velvet cake from Costco. What can I say, the girl has good taste! Stick a few candles in it and Wha La - Hope's perfect cake!

Also on the party agenda - Make your own nightshirt!

And to complete the night - a pair of soft cozy sock/slippers with a note that says "Thanks for "slipping" in to my party!"

Hope had a great time and judging by the amount of giggles during the night I'm guessing it's a safe bet to say they all did. Happy Birthday Hope! We love ya!

Happy Halloween!

It was another successful Halloween at the Hodges household. More candy than one should ever consume, 3 cute costumes and a house with as many tricks as treats! Hope

"THE MERMAID"

Caymbree
"THE WATERMELON"

Hallee

"THE FLAPPER"

The school carnival was another big hit with more volunteers than ever! Whoot whoot!!! I created a booth using the jelly belly game called Beanboozled. Kids would come up to the board, spin the wheel and see what it stopped on. Then they would get a jelly bean of that color that would be one of two flavors (skunk or licorice, pencil shavings or banana, moldy cheese or Carmel corn, baby wipes or coconut) It was so fun to see their reaction when they realized they were eating a jelly bean that tasted exactly like a SKUNK!!

Trinity and Hallee

Hope, Elle, and Grace

Hope, Caymbree, Cash, Elle, Jovie, Grace, Indy, Trinity and Hallee