Christmas Eve...

We continued our Christmas Eve tradition at my parents with yummy roast beef dinner with the extended family, a short program, Christmas carols, opening gifts from Grandma & Grandpa and of course, Christmas Eve jammies!  The kids always love to match so we try hard to find the same jammies every single year.  Batman was the request of the boys this year though Nick did inform me that he is getting too old to wear Batman pajamas...sad!  We had a great night and Christmas day was wonderful as well.  Our ward did a great musical program and then we headed to Logan to visit with Tyler's family.  I did not take one picture but it was fun to spend time playing with cousins there.  We are looking forward to what this year has to bring...first on the list being a new baby!   

 Summer & Aunt Kelsey

 Kylee Jo & Ms. Summer

 Nick & Austin

 The boys - Austin, Nick, Brady & Easton

 The Cousins

Showing off the scooters from Grandma & Grandpa

A visit to see Santa...

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a visit to see Santa and this year he made a pit stop at Uncle JR's house.  This special Santa is sporting a very special antique Santa suit - borrowed from Grandpa Joe!  Hopefully Santa has time to return and grant their Christmas requests! 

 Austin - "I haven't decided yet."  Awesome!  I guess there won't be disappointment from this kid on Christmas morning.

 Nicholas - Madden 2012 - We will see.  I am not sure the workshop produces video games....

 Kylee - Easy Bake Oven - This request has not been granted in years past so we will see if Santa is on the ball this year!

 Summer - Just wanted the candy cane and it was a painful process she had to endure to get one! 

Santa took a minute to wish Grandma Jo a Happy Birthday!  59 years young today and loved and adored by ALL of us! 

Kylee plays...Let It Snow!

Thankful & Thanksgiving

There is nothing quite like being at my parents house on Thanksgiving.  The food is always wonderful and the company chaotic but perfect.  This year did not disappoint!  With a crowd of 50 (many of which were kids) it was just as I always remembered.  We ate and ate and then took a small break to play the traditional "Hill Family" games before returning to more eating!  Everything was just right.  My parents are wonderful hosts and always seem to find a way to make feeding large crowds seem easy.  We started a new tradition this year - the turkey bowl football game for the kids!  Nick collected all of the jersey's that we own so that every kid (and adult) could wear one in the big game.  It was a lot of fun and something that I think the kids will always look forward to.  I love that all these cousins are so close in age!  Isn't family the best?  Here are some pictures of the perfect day.  Plenty of food, fun, and lots of family love!     

Happy #5 Austin!

Happy #5 to my sweet Austin!  This happy boy brings us more joy then I ever imagined.  I delivered Austin just a few days before Thanksgiving five short years ago.  I remember snuggling with him in the hospital on Thanksgiving day and being grateful that he was mine.  He is funny, athletic, sensitive, feisty, goofy and sweet.  He loves his older brother and would play with the "older boys" every second of every day if he could.  He is a great friend and is loved by so many.  He could live on pancakes, Life cereal, spaghetti and IKEA meatballs if he had to!  He has a sparkle in his eye that is hard to explain.  We celebrated yesterday with pancakes for breakfast, McDonalds for lunch & Cafe Rio for dinner...all of his favorite things.  Today we headed to the bowling alley with 11 neighbor kids to celebrate Austin's special day.  The kids enjoyed bowling, pizza & cake. (and I enjoyed not having party mess at my house!)  It was the perfect way to celebrate such an awesome kid.   

Left to Right - Brady, Eason, Cache, Kamri, Riley, Gabe, Tyson, Nick, Austin, Spencer & Cy

First Snow...

The first snow of the season hit last night!  No Saturday morning chores for these kids...yet!  

Happy Saturday.

Presenting...

Tonight we gathered at my parent's house for our annual Sunday before Halloween dinner &pumpkin carving.  Mom made a wonderful spread of food (as usual) and Kelsey brought home 9 kids from her BYU ward to join in the fun.  It was pure chaos but so worth it for the end result.  Awesome pumpkins and pictures of their kids in costume a day before the actual Halloween holiday.  Though Halloween is one of my least favorite holiday's, soup & bread bowls while carving pumpkins is certainly one of my most favorite Hill family traditions!  With that said, I present the Holland children - Halloween 2011! 

 Austin - the football player.  He was all about the black lines under his eyes.

 Kylee - the pig & Summer - the cupcake

Nick - the Zombie.  Thanks to Uncle Ryan for tackling the face painting!

 The pumpkin carving kids - they were supposed to be making scary faces.  

Grandpa

I am pretty sure these are the cutest pictures ever.  They were taken as my dad joined us at the pumpkin patch earlier this week.  The boys were so excited to see Grandpa that they took of running to greet him.  Priceless.

Nick's Big Day...

On Saturday, October 8th, Nicholas was baptized!  He has been counting down the days for weeks now or maybe more like months.  He has been so diligent in asking questions and preparing himself.  It was incredibly fun and rewarding to watch as a parent.  No, he is not perfect, but he certainly has a big heart and makes great choices most of the time! We are lucky to have such supportive friends and family and many came share that special day with us.  It was especially neat for me to see both Grandpa's participate.  There is something special about seeing two men that I love (and Nick admires) stand as witnesses of the sacred ordinance of Baptism and then participate in the Confirmation.  It always makes me extremely emotional.  In just a few short years we will be helping Nick prepare to enter the temple and serve a mission.  Sometimes being a parent is hard and I worry that maybe I am not doing enough.  I hope that Nick feels our love for him.  We came back to the house for gourmet pizza (Costco) and Rootbeer floats...Nick's request of course and I was not about ready to argue with such a simple meal!  It was a cold and blustery day but warm and perfect in all the right ways!  Congrats Nick!

x

NYC...

I just spent 4 days in New York City with some of my most favorite people on the planet.  I am too lazy to post my own pictures (maybe later in the week) so for now you can enjoy a re-cap through my mom's blog HERE.  It was an amazing trip.  We laughed, we cried, and we made wonderful memories!  Thanks mom and dad for a great trip!

Happy #8 Nicholas!

Wow, I can't believe that this handsome boy is EIGHT years old.  It seems like he was born yesterday, full head of hair and all.  We love our Nick for so many reasons.  He is sweet and sensitive yet stubborn and determined.  He is a great athlete and a great friend.  He makes me laugh and smile sometimes until my stomach hurts.  He truly is wonderful kid.  He is a good student and and has a big testimony for such a little body. We are so excited that he has chosen to be baptized in a few weeks.  He has been working hard and preparing himself for the big day.  It is crazy to think we are going through the baptism process with another child.  Life really does speed along and we hope that Nick knows how much we love watching him grow.  The birthday this year was a hit!  It started with a friend party at the bowling alley complete with laser tag, arcades, bowling, pizza, cake and presents.  He has lots of friends in the neighborhood and this was the perfect place to keep 10 rowdy boys entertained!  His actual birthday was celebrated with dinner at the Pizza Pie Cafe with Grandma & Grandpa Holland.  I think it was a great few days for him...until next year.... Happy #8 Nick!

What Mom's Do...

I would give anything to just drive to the airport and get on a plane right now. Tyler travels for work on occasion and for him that requires him packing a suitcase, driving to the airport, and boarding the plane.  For me it requires accomplishing the entire list below...

Though I am extremely grateful to have the opportunity to spend time away with people I love, it requires doing a lot for the people that I love and am leaving at home.  I have checked a few things off this list today and will continue to plug away at it until take off in a few days.  Until then, I am sweating like crazy (no joke) as I try and leave the house in a semi organized fashion with laundry done and the pantry and fridge stocked.  I guess that is what mom's do!   

You Are What You Eat?

I guess we are all YOGURT at our house.  Didn't realize how addicted we are until I cleaned out my fridge this morning.  Yogurt is kind of a staple food at our house these days.  My picky eaters will eat it and I figure it is better then some other things I could feed them, right?