Christmas @ the Haskell's

Ok.....this is going to be a lot of pictures....Here I go! We had a really good Christmas this year, one of my favorite's, in fact. It was more quiet and stay home and I think we enjoyed it. These pic's are a little out of order but stay with me.

This is what it looked like after we were done opening...


We went over to my parent's on Christmas day and ONCE again they did too much. All of the girls got these really cute aprons in their stockings.



Tyler got a authenic Jazz jersey and video game. He was so excited to wear it!

Kenny's favorite thing was her swimming baby. She had to use it in the tub that night!

Kylie got an easy bake oven with some cookie mixes but for some reason I don't have a pic. They also got really nice camp chairs and money from Grandma and Grandpa which is going in their "vacation money."
Eric and I got all of the kids a Disney shirt and the girls got princess towels and water shoes. They are soooo excited to go!



Tyler's main gift was a camera but it also does video and games. He has been going around taking pics/video's of the cats fighting, all of the kids, grandma and grandpa, etc, etc. He also got a couple of games, Kung Fu Panda, air hogs from grandma and Niki.


Easton's main gift was a train table. He also got some trains, story reader books, remote control car from Niki and trains from Grandma Pat. Grandma and Grandpa Swanson got him a cool new train set for his train table.




On Christmas Eve Eric made enchilada's (which none of the kids would eat), sprinkled food for the reindeer's out front, read a Christmas book, and we let the kids open new pj's from us. Eric's mom was able to join us this Christmas and it was so much fun. The kids just love it when she comes. She spoils them with so much attention that after she leaves they are crazy!!!!





We are so blessed to have awesome neighbor's, friend's, and family. We truly get spoiled every Christmas. Even though it's fun, I'm always glad when it's over and back to normal life.

Kylie's Dance Recital

Kylie had her first dance recital last week. Since her teacher had a baby in September she didn't start until October. They usually have a more formal recital but instead they went to the retirement home dressed in their PJ's and sang a Christmas song. I tried to upload my video but once again, it won't so here is a couple of pics. Kylie wanted to where her Hannah Montanna nightgown with some weird Capri Jammie's underneath. I tried to get her to wear some of her cute pj's but she was determined!

Cousin Christmas Party

We had our annual Swanson Cousin Christmas Party last week. Of course, it was snowing and scary driving up the canyon but we finally made it. The kids got to decorate their own ornaments, decorate the tree, sing songs, and get a stocking from my Grandma. They were thrilled to get a whole dollar! We all brought gifts for our kids: Tyler a spider man memory game and art set, Kylie and Kenadie each got a princess bath set and Tinkerbell to share, and Easton got a Diego camera. All of us cousins brought a $10 gift and played the present game. I got bath and body works lotion and Eric got a extra soft blanket. (The kids have all been fighting over it!)








The girls were being so funny this night. They keep bending over saying they were "old men"

School Events

Yes, it has been forever since I've posted! It just seems like every time I go to update something happens or I get distracted. Before school was let out for winter break we had a couple of school events. Kylie had the usual Kindergarten Christmas program and Tyler had a school play. I tried to post some video but I couldn't ever get it to upload.

Happy Birthday Sis-Yesterday!

I just wanted to say happy birthday to my sis! She is only 18 months older than me so we played a lot as kids. Some of my favorite memories are playing Barbie's in her room for hours and trying to scare her by hiding in her closet very frequently. I also remember a few good cat fights but we always seemed to get over it. Even though we are very different we are alike in a lot of ways. Happy birthday!

Chuck E Cheese, Temple Square

One of the benefits of having Eric work at Schreiber's are his 12 hour shifts. He has every Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and every other Wednesday off. Tyler gets out of school early on Friday's so we headed down to SLC. We surprised the kids with a trip to the new Chuck E. Cheese in Layton. The kids had soooo much fun playing games and eating pizza. Tyler and Kylie made it clear that they could go around by themselves. I liked this new one because we could see everywhere from our table. The kids especially loved the horse ride and roller coaster simulator ride. After we finally left, we headed down to Temple Square. It was very busy but so beautiful. I think the kids enjoyed seeing all of the lights and the temple. Of course, a trip to SLC wouldn't be complete without a stop at Target. We got home late and tired but it was fun.

New Family Pics

This past week and a half has been extra crazy! I feel like there is not enough time to get what I need to done. It seems like all I've done lately is work, clean, work, clean, work, drive kids around, plan primary lessons, work, etc, etc. Last Saturday my awesome friend, neighbor, and co-worker Stacey took some family pics of us. Eric absolutely hates the annual trip to kiddie kandids for some family pics so this was a much better solution. We drove around to a few locations and snapped some photo's. It was a little chilly but I think they turned out well. I'm so excited to get them enlarged and on my wall! Thanks Stacey, you are the best!
Kenadie had her last day of preschool until January 6Th. They got to wear PJ's yesterday, sit on Santa's lap, and decorate sugar cookies. She made me a gift but says it's a secret and I can't peek. Kylie has her Kindergarten Christmas program next week and a dance program at the retirement center. Tyler has a play on Monday night that he has been working on for school. So basically, next week is going to be crazy. We are hoping to go to Temple Square tonight and do some shopping. Eric has never been to temple square and I haven't been in at least 11 years. I hope the kids will enjoy it.

My favorite family pic:

Thanksgiving Week

We celebrated our Thanksgiving at my mom's house this year. We traveled ALL the way to North Logan. The kids enjoyed flag football with Grandpa, Uncle Cory, cousins, and dad. After we came home we started to decorate outside. Eric gets waaaayyy into putting up our lights and even drew a map of what he wanted where. We still need to get a few things to complete the outside. Over the weekend I really didn't feel good but we all went to the Jazz game anyway. We were second row from the top but the kids just enjoyed the atmosphere. I woke up at 3 am the next day throwing up. Eric went and taught the primary lesson while I rested at home. I have such an awesome husband.
Here is the kids tree downstairs:

Mom and Dad's tree

Our stockings: