Handmade is best

 This year Devin wanted to make the each of our kids something by hand out of wood. He's an amazing carpenter so of course I said do it! We talked it over and came up with the perfect things for each of them.
Devin worked in the freezing cold garage all through October and early November to finish them. I loved how they turned out. And thank goodness for Grandma and her amazing bedding she made for the bunk beds. I am surrounded by so much talent!

They loved them so much. Henderson saw his board first thing Christmas morning and asked where it came from. I told him his dad made it for him and he walked right over to him and gave him the biggest hug. It was so sweet. Sometimes, handmade is best. We decided we'd make it a yearly thing since we too had so much fun planning and making everything.

 Bunk beds and exact replica of her own bed for Amelia and her new American Girl doll.

 Henderson needed some storage for all his little treasures. I call him a hoarder, he calls is collecting. Either way, I have to put up with the mess! This just makes it all look a little more official ;)

And a horse stable for Lucie. She is nice enough to share with her big sister :)

Christmas Eve

Since we went nontraditional on Thanksgiving this year I thought why not do the same for Christmas? So we went to our favorite mexican restaurant for dinner then drove around Pocatello and saw tons of beautiful Christmas lights. It really was perfect. 

I tried so hard this year to make it magical for the kids. They are the perfect ages to believe in Santa and all it's magical glory. I started shopping in September which really helped to break up the expense. I earned every dollar I spent, which caused me to buy only things I thought they'd really love and not filler toys. Devin and I were so excited to show them all that we had done for them.

Christmas Sunday

JOY

To say that Scarlett has brought our family joy would be an understatement. We adore her. The other day a friend reminded me to remember this saying while raising my kids. I loved it. 

"The days were long but the years were short." 

So very true.

Family Christmas Party

Right after her blessing we had our family Christmas party. Always lots of fun when the Miles family gets together!

 Boys table...they loved the tiny forks Aunt Jen got.

 Grandma Greats gifts are always stellar...gloves and flashlights for all the kids. How does she always know the perfect gift to give? They all loved it!

Eudora got us this print because it reminded her of our family-one boy and three girls :)

 Grandma Great was playing with Henderson's new fart gun and said, "I'm a pistol packin' woman!" I just love her!

Scarlett's Blessing Day

 On December 15th Devin gave our baby a blessing and a name. He blessed her with the following:

The gift of faith-bless you with the spirit of truth and the ability to find truth in all things and gain a testimony.
The gift of friendship-you will be a good influence and example to those in need.
Bless you with a strong mind to help those to learn the gospel and those who have not received it.
Bless you with the love of family which will lead you to the temple where you will receive great blessings.

It was a wonderful day and Devin said she was awake the whole time and didn't make a peep :)

It was a happy happy day for this new family of 6!

Quick trip to SLC

 Devin wanted nothing more then to shop at the outlets for Christmas and his birthday this year. And who could pass that request up?! We will definitely do it again next year. We just bought for ourselves and we each got exactly what we wanted. Perfect. And by the way....who are the idiots in the hoodies?! It was like 5 degrees out!

 We also wanted the kids to see the temple lights, since they've never seen the Temple. It was freezing and super chaotic. I  was so paranoid we would loose a kid in the crowd. Not my cup of tea. So we snapped some pics to prove we were there and then headed home.

This and That-December edition

In the middle of the night we noticed the power had gone out and it was freezing. Like 20 degrees inside freezing. Turns out some power line broke in our town (of all places) and all the surrounding cities had to be shut down as well to fix it. We had no school and Devin had no work so we ended up having the six of us, my mother in law and my sister in laws 3 kids home. All day. With no power and nothing to do. Luckily Eudora has a wood burning stove upstairs so we stayed toasty warm and happy for like the first 5 hours. The last 5 hours were rough! 

Unsatisfied three year old. It's not curly enough she says! 

 No school so Henderson had to come to dance class with us. He was a great babysitter. I just love this guy!

 Um, I think I'm bundled up enough mama!

 Sometime in early December Lucie randomly got the flu. Like the most projectile vomit I've ever seen. Then 24 hours later she was fine. And I thought we were safe. Then after our family Christmas party, Henderson puked all over my couch...MY COUCH!!!!! Oh it was so so so very bad. Then Amelia got it. Then I got it a few hours later. Poor Devin. He got it a week later (?) Ughh. I hate flu season.

 Lucie a few hours after the flu bug....

 Holding Scarlett while I puked in a bowl on the couch. The stinky barf couch that luckily my friend cleaned with his professional carpet cleaning supplies. Thank goodness for that!

 Some days it's just a happy meal kind of day...

 Learning all sorts of womanly things, like the towel wrap. It's a necessity.

 She wanted braids like Anna from frozen. We love that movie!

I came home from getting a root pulp extraction done (the prep work for a very infected tooth that needs a root canal....not fun) to find my chubby baby asleep in her swing and Devin covered in poop. A massive blow out to say the least.

 Sisters for life! They adore her.

 While out and about, Devin locked our keys in the car. So all the kids missed school that day and luckily Devins mom brought us a set of keys. In the meantime, just down from where we had lunch and our car was is my very best friends cupcake shop. It was a great time to pass the time :)

 In her most favorite tiger vest from Grandma. I'm pretty sure she can't be any cuter :)