Snow

This winter has been pretty dry for Oregon.  I was starting to worry about my bushes and trees we planted last year.  I didn't really have to worry about my grapevines thanks to our dog Trooper who ate them. 

 Evil glare.  

Thankfully we finally did get some precipitation in the form of SNOW!  February 6th it started and by the 7th it was really coming down.  The kids got to get out of school early the 6th and there was no school the 7th or 10th. 

Wesley even got a little work off.  Forced vacations sometimes are the best because there are no plans.  No plans leaves a lot of free time to just have fun and that is just what we did!

I know this doesn't sound like too much fun but I got to shovel the driveway two times early in the morning.  I loved it!  

I loved that I had time just to myself and I loved that it felt kind of like exercising.

The kids and I tried to build an igloo which didn't work at all so we built a big mountain of snow instead.  

The kids and Wesley built a snowman. 

We went early in the morning to get warm apple pies and hot chocolate from McDonalds and let the kids get some of their wiggles out indoors.  

We snuggled and watched movies together.

Church was cancelled so we held mini church at home which was actually really special.

It was just overall so much fun!  

Not to mention our kids, well all kids really are adorable in snow gear.  

Kinsley Queen of the snow.  

 The kids loved the trampoline with snow on it.  It was actually so much fun!

 

Snuggles and Movie time.

 

Check out this chunk!

I always love the snow!

I also always love when it melts and life resumes to normalcy.

Hyrum's Baby Blessing

I'm so behind on this blog.  

On January 12th Hyrum was given his baby blessing.  

It was such a special day.  Wesley's parents flew in for the occasion and other family and friends came as well.

We originally had plans for Hyrum to wear Wesley's baby blessing outfit but I couldn't get Hyrum's fat arms into Wesley's outfit.  But we did get to use the adorable little shoes Wesley wore.

 With the Crockett Grandparents

We sort of love everything about Hyrum and are so glad he is part of our family.  

Disaster December Ends Fabulously

December was a hard month for us.  Things just kept breaking, one after the other with no respite in between.

First our two oldest kids, Jared and Novalee broke.  By broke I mean they got the stomach flu and puked everywhere.  Which was just a week after they had gone back to school from Thanksgiving break.  So they stayed home and I got nothing done while taking care of them for two days.

Then our furnace broke.  By broke I mean it stopped producing heat.  Thankfully it happened at the tail end of the frigid temperatures that hit during the first half of December.  But it didn't get fixed for 5 days.  So we all slept downstairs in the family room huddled up next to our fireplace, which equals little sleep.  Add a newborn to that and a fireplace that needs to be attended to every 2 hours and it equals sleep deprived parents that really REALLY need a break.

Were we given one.  Nope.

Both Sadie and Kinsley like little vampires sucked any remaining life from us by both deciding to be little mischief makers.

Sadie decided at one point, I believe the same afternoon the furnace was fixed, that she needed to use the whole roll of toilet paper to wipe her bum.  She massively clogged the toilet and instead of letting me know right away just kept flushing and flushing.  Finally when she had been in the bathroom longer than normal I tried to go in and check on her but the door was locked.  That's when I knew something was wrong.  I knocked and asked her to unlock it and when I opened the door she quickly went back to the toilet and picked up a towel she had been using to wipe up the toilet water from the floor.  That part was actually really sweet, the pee water all over the floor not so much.

I tried the plunger, nothing.  I even tried taking a metal hanger and pulling it apart and trying to snake it, nothing.  So I locked the door and left if for Daddy to take care of when he got home.

Then the day before we were supposed to leave on our trip, when I was trying to run last minute errands, I stopped by my parents house to drop something off and at the same time Larry was cleaning up dog mess and came out with me as I was leaving with a bag of garbage.  He walked past my car and said, "I smell antifreeze."  Thank goodness the dogs made a mess and he just happened to come outside with me because I would have never noticed.  After checking a few things out and having me turn on the car only to watch antifreeze pour out of it, it was determined that I couldn't even drive home but would need to wait until it was fixed.

Wesley had to leave work in McMinnville to come and get us.  He said he would try and fix it that night after work.  I got home in just enough time to walk to the kid's school to pick them up.  Which then left very little time for me to pack and clean the house so we would be ready to go the next day.

Thankfully Larry fixed the car while Wes was at work and it was pretty much done by the time he went to pick it up.

About this time I noticed I wasn't feeling so well.  I was getting a cold.

Then Friday when we were about to leave for the airport, the house is perfectly clean right on time and all I needed to do was keep the girls occupied for a little bit longer in order to keep it clean and Wes called to tell me the plane was going to be delayed.

Well, our flight that was going to leave at 9:15pm did finally leave, I believe at 1am the following morning.

But we made it.  Safely too.  Kinsley just didn't love the plane flight which made it not so great for anyone else either.

Once we were in Arizona though we had the best time.  Wesley's parents took care of everything and we were able to finally relax. The weather was perfect.  I was able to go for walks almost every day with the girls, they played on the trampoline and in the sandbox and we ate tangerines right off the tree. It was perfect.  I should also mention that we had great food that I didn't have to make which of course is the best thing ever.

Here was our Christmas in Arizona.

 Lighting luminaries, notice I'm wearing short sleeves.  :)

 Santa's helper all tuckered out.

 On Christmas eve we went for a walk around the neighborhood to look at the lights and enjoy the luminaries.

 I think the girls enjoyed the wagon.

 This was Christmas morning.  Both girls too tired to get up.  Kinsley is brushing her teeth still half alseep and Sadie is looking like she fell asleep saying her morning prayers (she is totally too young to remember to say morning prayers but if she did it would probably look like this).

 Kinsley got a dolly and Sadie was given Dinosaurs.  Both girls were so happy.

 All the big kids got these hats.  I'm still not sure if it was a joke or if they were serious gifts.  I have used mine once on a walk.  I got funny looks...

When we came home we discovered Santa had been to our house too.

Someone got her first real bike.  She was so excited.

That same day I took down the tree which was frankly becoming a fire hazard.  

Seriously.

 Santa brought Novalee a bike but for some reason this is the only picture I could find of her.  :)

Santa brought Jared a 3DS. He looks a little excited.

This was my favorite gift probably because I bought it used at Goodwill months before Christmas and painted it in some places to make it look new and fixed the mobile.  The girls love putting their dollies in it to feed, take baths and take a nap, as being demonstrated by Novalee with her "dolly" Kinsley.

 Overall this was one of my favorite Christmas' yet which is saying a lot since it started out so crazy.

Merry Christmas 2013

Dear Friends and Family,

This year has gone by so fast.  Every year it seems that time speeds up and we quickly find ourselves at the end of the year and preparing for the next before we know it.  Per the norm for our family we have again failed to allow enough time to get a cute family photo done and then enough time to actually get it printed, to write on it to each one of you and then to get it to the post office.  Once again an electronic Christmas letter will have to suffice.

This year has kept us busy, busy, busy. 

In February Novalee and Wesley turned another year older.  This was that wonderful year for both Wesley and me where we said goodbye to our 20s and hello to no longer being cute, spunky (well Wes may never have been that) and alert after 8pm. 

  On March 2^nd we found out we were expecting baby number five.  We were elated and scared at the same time.  In March Jared started baseball for the second year in a row.  Wesley also started baseball after being roped into being the coach for Jared’s team.  Every Monday and Wednesday from then until early June was spent on a baseball field.  Wes was actually on the field and I only found myself out there when I had to chase after Kinsley who didn’t realize she was too little to play baseball.

 

We also spent Mondays and Wednesdays during that time watching Novalee improve her swimming skills at swim lessons. 

On May 25^th Kinsley turned 1! 

Also Novalee spent her first official night away from us not with family when she attended her first Girl Scout Summer Camp.

In June Novalee graduated from Kindergarten.

On June 25th we found out we could FINALLY use the name Hyrum for one of our children and began preparing to have him join our family. 

In July we finally finished painting the exterior of our house which was our BIG project this year.

On September 8^th we added a Labrador to our family and named him Trooper after Wesley’s SUV from his “glory days.”

On September 9^th our little Sadie turned 3!  And she decided the terrible twos probably would have been a fun thing to experience and made a resolve to make her horrible threes memorable for everyone. 

October came without anything too exciting happening except I turned 30…yeah not much to say about that.

November was much anticipated.  I impatiently awaited the arrival of Hyrum.  I’m pretty sure I whined, cried, whimpered and was an overall grouchpot until the 12^th when Hyrum was born.  He was born at 9:17am on 11-12-2013.  7 minutes earlier he would have been born 9:10 on 11-12-13.  He has proven to be our easiest newborn so far.  We aren’t sure if we are just pros now at the crazy, hectic, semi organized life we live or if he is actually an easier baby.  I’d like to think we just rock as parents.  

November also brought Wesley’s mother here for a week.  And for a whole week I was spoiled rotten.  I can’t remember a time since having kids when I’ve had to do so little.  It was lovely.  I’m currently racking my brains to come up with a plan to convince her that Oregon rain is lovely and that she wants to be neighbors with us. 

On the last day of November Jared turned 9 and celebrated his birthday, true to his style, with a Pokemon party with friends. 

And that brings us to December.  This magical time of year is such a cherished time for our family.  We love the Christmas hymns sung at church, the Christmas lights twinkling on homes and trees, watching our kids check each day to see if a new present under the tree is marked with their name and most of all we love the extra spirit of peace that settles in.  We as a family love our Savior Jesus Christ.  We hope each and every one of you is blessed with happiness, joy and peace this Christmas time and throughout the coming year. 

Merry Christmas!

The Crocketts