Family Parties

"I am Santa Claus"

Helping with the 12 days of Christmas song

We went to the Zismer family party the Saturday before Christmas. It's great to see all of Marks cousins who we only see about 3 times a year. The family is growing, and all of the little kids are getting so big. We played a ton of fun games, and there was a lot of great spaghetti and meatballs to eat! Thank you to my Favorite Uncle Kevin & Aunt Lori and there kids for putting so much time and preparation into it!!



On the Sunday before Christmas we went of to Marks parents and had another little party. It was really fun. Gaylene gave us all hand-powered wheat grinders!! She made us grind wheat, and make home made wheat bread to have with dinner. It was hilarious watching all of the big boys (Mark, Kurt, Kary, and Jorge) trying to grind wheat the fastest. The bread turned out great, and I'm glad I have a wheat grinder now!

On the Monday before Christmas we went the the Rentmeister Family party...what a BIG family! I have to say I've never had meatloaf before, but Uncle Dave made some that I actually really liked! It was a really fun party.... The little kids did a pinata, and opened presents, and people of course performed little things for all of us. I found out the Easton, and Sara can actually SING...they were both very good. I'm excited already for next years party!

Pinata

Kip got 2 bucks to hit Steve in the "You know whats"

JR stuffed Siers pockets full of Candy, which half of them made it to the wash!

Greatest presents ever!

Desert Star Theater

My brothers and sisters have a tradition of going to some kind of Musical or play during Christmas. We've gone to a lot over the years...This year we went back to the Desert Star Theater. It is always so much fun to go to dinner and then to the show. We missed Steve this year but it's okay because he was out with Whitney (his "ex" girlfriend, who he sure has been spending A LOT of time with lately, and we all LOVE her). Amanda didn't come because she is TERRIFIED to drive in the snow, and she lives in Layton. Without them there was no one to tease, or to drop new phones in drinks...(I was so glad when your phone started to work again Steven!) Hopefully we can keep up the tradition, and everybody can come next year!

December Update

Since I haven't blog about so many things that have been going on lately I'm starting to now. I'm going to do it over a few days time so it's not all at once....sorry. I'm just starting to put some together now, so stay tuned.....and we can all catch up! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Marks Birthday Surprise

To make a long story short this is what happened.
1. Bought season tickets to Six Flags for Mark and Me.
2. Thought I would surprise him on his birthday with them and we would fly there.
3. Arranged for a Baby sitter.
4. Woke Mark up at 5:00 am on his birthday to surprise him with the news.
5. Flew to California.
6. Spent 2 1/2 hours in LA traffic driving to Six Flags.
7. It was closed because it was raining..(Disney was still open)
8. Spent 2 more hours in the car driving around Santa Monica, trying to find a Mall.
9. Decided to head back towards Long Beach, ending up in Inglewood.
10. Went to the greatest ROSS ever...too bad the line was sooo long to check out. (45 min. wait)
11. Found a Mall .
12. Spent 1 hour driving back to the airport. (which was only 20 miles away...traffic)
13. Got home at 11:30.

Thanks to Mark for letting me think I surprised him (JUSTIN!!!)...Thanks to my babysitter for watching the kids....Thanks to Mother Nature for having it RAIN all day....Thanks to everybody driving in LA.....Thanks to JetBlue for letting us fly for free!!

I have no pictures, since there was NOTHING exciting about the day. No matter what happened it really is a birthday Mark will NEVER forget!

"I will NEVER, NEVER"

Sier turns 4 the end of February, so I finally decided to have his 3 year old checkup! ( I know, I am President of the "Bad Moms Club") I told him yesterday about the things we needed to do today, and on the list was of course take him to the Dr. The first thing he asked me is if he needed to get shots- I couldn't lie and tell him no, so I just told him "I think so, I'm not sure how many". Ever since then he has been telling me "I will NEVER, NEVER, EVER go to the Dr. again!" or "I'm NEVER, NEVER, EVER going to take my clothes off for her either!" You see, he watched Kip get 4 shots a couple of months ago and has been terrified ever since. Finally after a lot of "deal making" (I would buy him a cookie) we were off to the Dr.'s office. While we were driving there I was telling Mark about the "NEVER, NEVER" comment and he wanted to talk to Sier. So after talking to his dad he was set because Mark made him another deal that if he didn't cry then he would take him to the store and buy him some LEGOS. (the awesomest toy ever in this house right now) So Sier had a great day at the Dr.'s. He took off his clothes and ran around in his underwear, he talked to the Dr., he told her some of his jokes, and when the shot was done he yelled "YES!" I'm assuming he said that because he was so proud of himself for not crying. Needles to say, he got a cookie and his dad will be taking him to the store. And just another thing....I always think Sier is sooo small for his age because I only have Kip to compare him with. It turns out his 87% for weight and 79% for height. His Head? I'm not sure, but it is BIG.

Magic of Believing

I can't imagine a child not believing in Santa Claus. I know I'm prejudice, but I don't think there is a child in the whole world who loves Santa as much as Sier. He thinks Santa was put on the Earth just for him. Sier prays for him on a nightly basis, invites him to his birthday parties, and talks abut him non stop. Yes, we invited him to Sier's Birthday party. Santa couldn't figure out how to show up to a party filled with little kids in February and not leave with a room full of disappointed children....so, he came to see Sier on his birthday. He thought it was such a normal thing to have Santa come on your birthday just to see you. Last year if he would see a Santa he would walk right up to him and just start talking to him. He even grabbed a few Santa hands he saw walking around. The Santa's are great! (especially the one who came to his birthday)

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Every year we try to take the kids to see Santa arrive at the Riverton City Hall on a fire engine. We wait in the cold for over an hour to be one of the first in line. We play with cousins, and sing songs while we wait. When the kids see the fire engine coming down the street it is amazing to watch all of their faces. We get to sit on Santa's lap and Mrs. Claus gives the kids a fun treat. After we see Santa we go get some crafts to make, decorate a sugar cookie, eat scones & hot chocolate, and go for a hayride. The kids have such a fun time going with cousins, and running into friends they know from school, church, or the neighborhood. Somehow Craig figured out how to but in line without being rude...I don't know how that happens, but he had everybody hot chocolate and donuts before I walked to the end of the line to wait my turn! I hope we can all still believe in the Magic of Christmas, no matter what age we are.

Sier & Mark; Sier just spotted Santa

Cousins...all boys!

Sier

Kip

Aunt Jera helping Sier frost His cookie.

Kip did his all by himself!

Me, Mark Kip & Sier

Funny

Stockings are ment to hang over the fireplace....not to wear!

Christmas Trees

Mark driving the Ranger...Thanks for buying it Dad & Craig!

Kim, Shelli, & Lauren
Our Tree! (it tooks us FOREVER to find
just the right one.)

Sier kept triping over the branches. He got so mad

when I took this picture!

Cutting down Christmas Tree's in one tradition that I don't want to give up. It is so much fun to go with all of the Rentmeister family to get them. All of Marks Cousins, Aunts, and Uncles try to go....it's not very often that everybody doesn't show up. Thanks to everybody who works so hard to put it together!

Utah Game!

I know this is LATE! But Way to go UTES....we're going to a Bowl. Who knows what one, but Mark and I are going to TRY to go.

Check This Out!

If you are looking for CUTE Christmas cards you should check out this link! She is doing ours, and they are lookin' good! www.pixelpatchwork.blogspot.com