Hoarding

Layne has been on a kick since Christmas that we like to call "toy hoarding." She gets groups of similar toys and pulls them all right in front of her, then rolls them in her hands, over and over again. She does not like any different toys in the mix, and will not allow anyone or thing to get in the way of her play. We've tried to interact in her "jumbling" as one of her therapists has named it, but Layne's pretty fiesty when it comes to hoarding time. Once she realized I was taking her picture this morning, she pulled out the cheeser. You just can't beat it.

Winter Mix

here we have an assorted mix of pictures from the last week, starting off with Tuesday. Kimball and Koria wanted to play in the snow, so I suited them all up, then noticed them demolishing the snowmen out in the backyard. The told me later that they converted the snowmen into "reclining sofas." I didn't even know that they knew what those were. Must have seen it on t.v. Anyway, our family of snowmen is now a fully functional line of designer furniture.

Later on that day, I went in to get Luke and Layne up from their nap, and found Layne with another post-nap hairdo. This one is mild in comparison to some. Luke was involved in a good book.

The last of the pictures is of Jared's cast, which was also put on last Tuesday ... finally. He will go in again next Tuesday to see if the swelling has reduced some more, and if so, they will recast it. The kids had a good time drawing/signing it. Koria had to complete it with multile female figures with Princess Leia buns. The older two took it on themselves to sign for the younger set of twins.

Oh, yeah, I forgot about the picture in the middle. After our weekly cleaning was done on Saturday morning (the kids are really becoming excellent helpers) I pulled out the tent and fort for the kids to enjoy. The asked to sleep in them on Saturday night, so we agreed. I built beds out of blankets for them inside each one, then added their pillows. Koria did great and fell asleep without a problem. Kimball lasted about 10 minutes before he said that it was "too dark and creepy in there." I helped him up into his bed. Easy fix.

Snow on Weeds

Even snow on weeds makes them look like desseret for the eye, don't you think?

Winter Fog

Yesterday morning a fog rolled into Huntington, and luckily, after Jared was able to get his cast put on, it was still lingering on the outskirts of town. I dropped him off at his office, then drove home and grabbed the camera. Luke, Layne and I headed out on a quick drive while the older twins were still in school to catch a few scenes from the morning. Everything looks more mysterious, more interesting in fog, especially when the world has just been coated with fresh-fallen snow -- even Emery County!

Snow Storm

We finally received out first big snowfall of the year yesterday! It was heavy, wet, snowman building snow, so I took the kids outside and showed them how it's done. They insisted on building a snowman or woman for each member of our family. Luke joined us after his nap. Layne slept through the whole thing. I wore my body out between the combination of running laps around the house giving the kids sled tides and shoveling our massive driveway twice! That was mixed in with cleaning the house in the morning, 7 loads of laundry, three bedsheets washed then remade, a photoshoot cd burn and delivery, a late night/early morning sickness party with Luke and Layne, and one gospel doctrine lesson on Lehi's vision of the tree of life in between. I'm glad it's Sunday today ....

Notice in the bottom picture that the snowman representing me is tipping over and falling to pieces. Sigh.

Jared's Broken Ankle

And now, for the much awaited pictures of Jared's broken ankle! These shots were taken this last Tuesday, a week and one day after Jared broke his ankle playing basketball. Looks painful, doesn't it? The swell was still too much for the permanent cast to be put on, so Jared has a splint on right now. We will go in this Tueday again to see if the swelling has reduced enough for the cast. That should be on anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks. Poor guy! He's becoming the king of mega tall crutches! I told him that the one advantage that I see in this situation is that his calves have finally become the same size as mine. My self-image has greatly improved.

Jared's Broken Ankle

Marcie and Derek come to visit and ... winter games?

It was great to meet Marcie and have she and Derek here with us for a night when we returned home from our trip to Idaho. In fact, they beat us here! Obviously by the end of their stay with us, Marcie had been introduced to the crazier side of the Black kids. We are an aquired taste.

The other pictures? Well, what are you supposed to do in the middle of winter when there is no snow outside? Do crazy stunts on the swings set and dig in the dirt of course!

Christmas Break

Here's a few more pictures from Christmas morning, as well as a couple others from our trip, including my annual gift to Mariah that's our inside joke concerning "Twilight" and our shared loathing of the series. I created a photoshop image of Mariah in place of Kristen Stewart as Bella. Nice, right? Then last couple are on me, my sisters, and Mom. We had our first (and hopefully annual) sisters' outing. It was a great afternoon spent with the some of my favorite females! Thanks Wendy, Shanell, Becky, and Mom!

Christmas Morning

Just a few pics from the big day...

Christmas Eve

Not much beats Christmas Eve surprises. We loaded up and drove ourselves and all the goodies to Idaho to surprise Mom, Dad, and Becky that afternoon when Koria and Kimball showed up on their doorstep wrapped up in a giant Christmas bag. And then there's the new pjs that beat any other gift each year. Jared and I made up Lego Indiana Jones pjs for Kimball and Koria's where Lego Princess Leia jams, per their desired requests. And what about Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough balls for Santa Claus that you just have to sample before leaving out for his midnight visit? But NOTHING beats Grandpa getting on the floor to hang out with Miss Layne. I think that they both enjoyed themselves.

Annual Christmas Eve Fondue Night

We have a tradition that on Christmas Eve (well, Dec. 23 this year) we have a fondue night. The kids highly anticipate "eating with swords" and who can blame them? We all faired well, with the exception of Layne, who ended up with the stomach flu a few hours later. Oh well. You can't win them all, right?

Gingerbread Houses ... kind of

Our neighbor brought over some supplies to make gingerbread houses ... out of graham crackers! It was a great activity for all the kids, and Luke enjoyed the candy the most! Can you tell?