New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve we stayed home and had a nice night as a family.  Brianna had some friends over that kept us entertained with their fireworks in the backyard!  Jon was on call so he was in and out all night in between all the babies that were being delivered.  We had the traditional sparkling cider and at midnight we all got pans and banged them outside.  We even got Brianna's friends to go out with us with a lid and a wooden spoon to bang with.  (I think they thought we were weird but if you are here at midnight you have to participate in our traditions!)

Surgery For Jack

Jack had been having some problems with his tonsils and ears so we decided to go ahead and have him get ear tubes and have his tonsils removed during the Christmas break.  He did pretty good with the surgery and recovery.  We had a few days that he was pretty miserable with pain but for the most part he did well.

Christmas 2011

We were so excited to have December come so that Brianna could come home and spend a few weeks with us.  We have missed her each day that she has been away to BYU.  We saved some of our Christmas activities so she could do them with us.  Jack had fun having her help him with his gingerbread house.  The kids are never too old to go visit Santa at the mall.  We couldn't get any of them to sit on his lap for the picture!

Grandma Robison came and spent Christmas with us this year.  It was fun to have her here and have her be with our family for the holidays. 

Three of the kids got this toy called "perplexus".  It is a ball that has a maze in it that you have to get a little ball to go thru to the end.  This is pretty much what everyone was doing all day on Christmas with their head down concentrating really hard to try and finish it first!

Jack is our last child to make us the hand poem for our Christmas present.  Of course it couldn't be read without tears from Jon or I.  It is so sad to see our kids growing up so fast!

Another Christmas has come and gone with me being sad to see the season end.  My kids make fun of me each year because I cry when it is all over!  I love the season and having all my kids around me.  We had a wonderful holiday and are so grateful for our Savior, this time of year we have to reflect on his birth and for the many blessings we receive each day.

Mexican Riviera Cruise Thanksgiving 2011

We spent our Thanksgiving with the Smith family on a cruise.  We had been planning this for quite awhile and the kids were so excited to go.   We met everyone on the cruise ship in Los Angeles and the party began!  The kids were in heaven with all the drinks, pina colodas & milkshakes you wanted.  Of course the first place we went was to the buffet to start eating! 

Here we are getting ready to leave the port!

We had to get a picture of us in our life preservers!

The first night we all had to sit at different tables until they found a place for our large group.  After the  first night they found a place for the 27 of us to sit in the same area with all the kids at tables and the adults at one table.  We had a great time each night visiting & eating.  I think we ordered at least one of everything if not more off the menu.

Our first stop was Ensenada, Mexico

We took a bus out to an area where they had a little shopping district and La Bufadora.  Which is a famous blowhole, but we arrived at low tide so not much was happening. 

One of our formal nights

We spent two days in Cabo San Lucas.  This is us being  tendered over by boats.  We got off the boat and hired a couple little boats to take us over to Lover's Beach. 

Jack went out and tried to snorkel but the water was pretty rough where we were from all the crazy boats that kept coming in and out of the area. 

The second day in Cabo we hired another little boat to take us over to a beach called the Office.  We spent a couple hours just laying on the beach.  The kids had a blast buying stuff from the vendors that would walk by with there items for sell.  Jack learned real fast that you bargain with them and they will go down in price.  He bought quite a bit for his $10!

After a couple hours on the beach Alan and his boys and our family decided to go and para sail.  It was so fun to watch all the kids get to go up.  It is definitely something they will never forget.

This was a guy that would stand and just pose as people were walking by.  He waved Heidi over and handed her his gun so she could get a picture with him. 

I think the kids were a little scared of him!

Shopping in the market for our souvenirs

All the grand kids goofing off on deck one night.  They all bought ponchos for their souvenirs and they needed them the last few days of our cruise.  It turned very cold and rainy for Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day

We had a great week with our family and with all the cousins.  Even though some of the kids got a little sick and spent some time in the cabin we all had a great time making memories that will last forever. 

Halloween 2011

Halloween was again filled with our traditions!   I work on the hundreds of sugar cookies while the kids help Dad with the carving of the pumpkins.  It was a beautiful day the day we decided to do everything so they were able to carve outside on the driveway.  

Caleb was a nerd this year and Jack was Obi-Wan-Kenobi

Mallory was a witch and made her own costume this year.  Heidi just went with the Dr. look for this year!

The kids pumpkins turned out so cute. Each one was unique and they all came up with their designs on their own.  We tried to get Jack to act normal for the picture and he wouldn't!