Merry Christmas From the Crockett's

Dear Family and Friends,

It's a little late to be writing and mailing a Christmas letter. I actually considered not even writing on this blog a Christmas letter. But in the last couple of weeks our mailbox has only been without Christmas greetings on a couple of days which makes me feel a little more than guilty that we skipped out on sending holiday wishes to you.

So Merry Christmas. :)

What have we been up to this year? Well besides the usual, each of us having another birthday, the kids getting taller and Wes and I growing wider, there actually have been some exciting things going on around here.

So here are the highlights.

* In February Wes got really old (I like to tease him that he is so old but really there is only about 8 months difference between the two of us) and turned 28. And Novalee made me feel old by turning 4.

* Wes graduated from Optometry School on May 21st! Woohoo! Such a nice feeling!

* To add to our delight and happiness, around the same time he was offered a job in the exact area we had been praying he would find work.

*Then for several weeks Wes made everyone anxious by daily wondering ALOUD whether or not he passed the final portion of boards and would indeed be able to work as an optometrist. Thankfully his fears and ours were finally put to rest, he passed and did wonderfully!

*We traveled to Southern Utah before moving to Oregon at the beginning of June to visit family at the Beatty's family cabin in Kolob. My first time ever going! It was awesome!

*We drove the 775 miles back home to Oregon for the FINAL time! We are all so glad we don't have to make that trip anytime soon.

*Wesley started working for ABC Vision on July 1st! Yay for real income! :)

*Sadie turned one on September 9th and on the same day we found out we were EXPECTING baby number 4!

*I turned 28 on Oct 4th (Wesley lovingly reminded me that I was old now too) and for my birthday present (I consider it that anyways) I got to see baby number 4 for the first time by ultrasound.

*Jared this year lost so many baby teeth that I've lost track AND he turned 7! The shock of him turning 7 will probably pass around the time he is about to turn 8! His big highlight this year is that he got a Bow for his birthday and enjoys shooting it with Wes and that he played on a soccer team and did great!

*Novalee's highlight this year happened just last week when she sang with her preschool class for all the parents to hear during the schools Christmas Program. She was such a joy to watch. She sure does have a loud set of pipes when she wants to use them. :)

*And last but not least just today we reach a financial goal we had made as a couple! Nothing like procrastinating to the last minute. ;) Honestly I'm just grateful we met it. :)

I can't tell whether or not time is speeding up, if our time is filling up with activities or if we are getting so old that we can't keep up with the activities we've always had. :) Either way I feel like we have been busier this year than ever before.

This is such a special time of year. A time to slow down and appreciate things that often go unnoticed. There is always an extra special feeling in the air around this time of year. I love thinking that the feeling is a witness of Christ's birth. I love that this time of year points us to our Savior and the love He has for us. I'm so grateful for His goodness and the sacrifice He made for all of us so that we can live with Him again. May we all think a little more often this Christmas season about the reason why we celebrate Christmas and may we all feel His love for us a little stronger this coming year.



We wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Love,
The Wesley.Brandy.Jared.Novalee.Sadie

Nativity Costumes

I volunteered to make the costumes for the nativity program this year for our ward Christmas party.

Since I was making them, it was great to have free creative license on what they would look like.

I started out by buying different colored sheets at the nearby thrift store. Then I added some accessories (some made by me and some bought).

Well when it came down to it, we already had plans for the night of the party and so we didn't get to see the costumes in action.

But I wanted to have a record of them, so my dear Wesley kindly agreed to model the boy ones and I tried on Mary's.

Here they are.

Herod:


Wiseman 1: (There are somethings I can't take credit for, like the accent piece around the neck).


Shepard 1:


Wiseman 2: (Oh yes, I made the hat! This one was my favorite).


Wiseman 3: (Doesn't Wes look so wise. ;) ).


Joseph:


Shepard 2:


Mary:


BaaBaaaa:


While it was sad to miss the party we did enjoy our travels to the North Pole by train. :)

ALL ABOARD!

Even Sadie had fun. She wanted to have her own seat most of the time though and kept pushing Novalee off the seat. I guess we should have known...

Novalee and her golden ticket.



Novalee asking Santa for a candycane. Holy moly, is that all she really wants? If only I had known...I mean I should have. Of course Novalee would want candy.

Jared asking for a harmonica and a book to learn to play pirate songs.

They each got a bell from Santa's sleigh.


Boy we sure love Christmas around here!

Slightly Crazy

My favorite thing about Black Friday: JoAnn's Flannel sale.

I'm one of the sick customers that has a full cart of reams of fabric. Some people would consider it not worth standing in line for two hours (more or less) to get their fabric cut but seriously besides sleeping what else are you going to be doing the day after Thanksgiving?

It was so fun to come home, wash all the fabric, fold it up in stacks and just admire it. I know, is that really fun for me? Yep. I might need to get out more. :)

Anyways, I bought some boy flannel for future baby. If this one is a boy or maybe, just maybe, if we have another one. :)

A couple of weeks ago I started putting a blanket together for "a" (hopefully this one) baby. I was just going to make it very simple but then decided to add a little fun.

This is the material.
I love elephants. I used to collect little elephant figurines.

Well I decided to make a large elephant applique to match the pattern.

This is how it ended up.



I kind of already added a name on it. Can you see it?

No, how about now?




Hyrum?

I know, I'm crazy, especially since we don't plan on finding out what gender the baby is until it is born...unless of course it is completely obvious. :)

Can I just say, hopefully it is a boy since Wes told me the other night that the name I have had picked out for a girl, since Sadie was born, isn't really his favorite. :)

If it's a girl, she might be nameless for a few days but I guess we have months to figure out a girl name.

Forest Grove Christmas Parade

A few weekends ago here in Forest Grove there was the Annual Christmas Parade. Last minute we decided to go since it was only a street down from our house.

It was pretty fun. Mainly because the floats gave out candy. I used to love that as a kid! My kids are a whole new generation of crazy candy lovers. When I was a kids and candy was tossed it was a made dash to get as much candy as possible before either by brother or sister or the kids around us would get it.

This is how my kids do it. The candy is tossed. Then both Jared and Novalee quickly grab the candy they can see that is their favorite. Then they both stand over the rest of the candy, kind of moving it around with their foot determining whether or not it is worth the effort to collect. When we asked them why they didn't get ALL the candy they baffled us by replying "We don't like that kind of candy." What?

At one point Wes and I just told them that if they didn't pick it all up we would leave. It was kind of driving me nuts to think of all the candy just being left on the road as trash. Granted a lot of it just went into the garbage at home but at least it's not on the road. Phew, okay I got that off my chest, I'm okay now. :)

Besides the candy drama (spoiled babies) it was fun to see the Christmas lights.

Of course I have no idea how to capture lights in the dark, so here are some of our family. :)

The kids waiting right before the candy started getting tossed their way. I realize Novalee looks like she is not enjoying herself. I'm pretty sure she didn't want to get her picture taken, yet again... :)

It was kind of freezing.

Even our future candy junky got some sweets.

Appetite

So today marks the 18th week of this pregnancy.

I use babycenter.com to read updates each week about the baby's growth and changes I might also be feeling.

Excerpt #1 from this weeks update:

"Hungry? An increase in appetite is pretty common about now."

If I swore this next question might have ended differently but I'll just say it my way,

What the freak show!?!

This week!?!

Really!?!

I'm pretty sure that increase hit at like week 8 or 9. Hence the gut that isn't baby bump.

On a side note: Last night Wes said I was looking pregnant and suggested that we should take a picture. No thanks honey. We're good. :)

K, Excerpt #2:

"Make it count by choosing meals and snacks that are rich in nutrients instead of empty calories..."

You know what, that's great! I love healthy foods! Especially oranges, apples, finger veggies. But there are two problems with this; one, the healthy stuff is so freaking good and guilt free that I eat it all super fast and two, it's the holidays, crap food is everywhere! AND when the healthy stuff is gone, I don't really have the energy to go get more and so I eat the "empty calories." Poor little baby. :(

This morning I was looking at my face wondering why it looked so swollen.

It might be because I have almost single handily finished off an entire package of Oreos (purchased yesterday) including the six I had last night in the middle of the night with my Root Beer Soda. (Mid night eating, not just a pregnancy thing for me). Plus the other Oreos I ate right after breakfast. :)

Self control, please come back, I'm pretty sure I enjoyed you.

Jared's Birthday

On Wednesday we celebrated Jared's birthday. It was pretty fun. Jared requested crepes with strawberries for breakfast WITH whipping cream. :)


Of course him and Novalee just ate the strawberries and whipping cream. I'm not sure why they say they like crepes. They should just ask for strawberries and whipping cream, it would save me time.

For dinner he requested McDonalds Happy Meals. If any of our kids are going to push boundaries it would be Jared. :) When I said he could request ANYTHING for dinner I really only meant something I could make at home but of course Jared thought that to mean ANYTHING in the whole world. Good thing he requested something so close to home.

(No pictures of us at McDonalds. Lets just say we oinked out.) :)

Then we came home for cake and presents.



Jared said he wanted a "Green Lantern" cake. So I went to the store and grabbed cake mix and what I thought was the green lantern only later to discover it was a bad guy. Oh well. I don't think Jared cared.

I made this buttercream frosting that I found a recipe for on my go-to website that I use for just about anything I need a recipe for.

It was really different than any frosting recipe I've made. It had you boil milk and flour until it gets really thick. The first batch was super thick and chunky which made the frosting look weird on the top of the cake but then the second batch turned out well.

We were all impressed with how light and non-sugary the frosting tasted. The cake was gone before Wes came home the next day. I kind of lack self control around sweets. :)

Here are some photos of Jared opening his presents. He gave us a pretty good laugh when with every gift (even clothing) he would say, "Awesome! That is exactly what I always wanted!" :)



Yes. A certain person (cough cough Wes) got Jared a bow and arrows for his birthday. :)
While I think it is cool, I hope Jared listens carefully to Wesley when he is teaching him about safety. :)


Today we are taking the kids and a couple other boys to Chuck e Cheese. Wish us luck for survival. Just kidding I'm sure it will be great! :)

While I love Jared to pieces, I kind of wish he wouldn't grow up so fast.

Seven!

It's crazy!

Jammies

I loved the pajamas that I made for Novalee. And even better, she loves them!

So I wanted to make some for Sadie. But since she is little and she falls down a lot I thought a pajama dress would just get in the way.

So I made her these. :)




She was pretty tired when I finished them (nap time).

Isn't she pretty creative? She tips over the baby stroller on purpose so she can lay in it. :)


None of these are great shots of the pajamas but I think you can get the idea.