Why I Blog

I realized today that I have been posting to this blog for 5 and a half years now!  I love to write about my family and the things we do. I remember growing up we had a family newsletter that each extended family on the Frederick side would write each month.  Then my Grandma Frederick would compile them all and send them out to us all.  It was such a thrill to be mentioned in that newsletter.  I remember it made me feel important and helped me feel like an important part of my family.

Now I am a mom.  I really feel it is important for me to write about the activities of our family.  I don't have a lot of clear memories from my childhood, so I want to preserve as many memories as I can for myself and my kids. Blogging helps me and hopefully my family to remember the difficult times as well as the times we have been so incredibly blessed.  To me it is an important part of my family history.  My family means so much to me and I hope that I am able to express that often so that they know how much I love each of them!

I realized something else this week.  While writing about fun activities is easy for me, it takes me a lot longer to write about experiences that are emotionally charged.  I have been working since March on a blog post about the death of my father.  It has been hard to express that experience and yet I know I need to in order to deal with the loss I have felt and the gratitude I feel having him as a father and being his daughter.

I have also not yet posted about Adrienne's beautiful wedding!  I have been so excited to and I have so many fun stories and photos to share, but there were some very precious moments involved in that quick trip to Oregon.  I have put a lot of thought into my writing and will soon be able to share those experiences on the blog!  I just want my dear daughter to know I have not forgotten to mention her wedding, I just want to be sure my writing does justice to such a beautiful experience!

Gingerbread Fun

Joseph was sick for a couple of days, but once he got better he and Annalina got busy with their gingerbread house kits.  Somehow I did not get a photo of Joseph's when it was finished!  But it looked great!

Thrilled to finally be decorating his own Gingerbread House!

She totally would too...

Hard at work!

Enjoying working with sugar!

 

The final result!  Looks really good!

 

I never did see the appeal of gingerbread, but the kids seem to love it!

Yum!

Christmas 2013

This was our Christmas Morning!

Waiting for the all clear

Well, we weren't planning to get the kids DS's, but when I saw the black friday prices, that pretty much sealed the deal!  PS These will be the LAST DS systems I buy for the kids!!

 

Awww, a wife for his lion webkinz!

 

Red is a great color on Jacob!

The 3DS was already his, but the rest of it was fun Nintendo stuff he got!

After opening gifts, we had a traditional Christmas Breakfast.  Our tradition has become, something different from last year. So we had sticky buns and hash brown breakfast casserole.  We had the radio on most of the day and we did something different this year.  We listened to a country music channel.  They had a huge variety of songs we had never heard before.  It reminded me of my dad who loved country music more the older he got!  It was a fun day!

Christmas Minkie Blankies

Joseph thinks of his life in terms of what blanket means the most to him at any given time.  He was baptized in June and when I asked him last week about the special dessert I made him, he could not remember what it was, but he DID remember the new blanket Grandma Frederick had brought him.  My mother made him a 5 layer flannel quilt when he was born and he had it with him ALWAYS!  In fact, after several repair jobs by grandma, we finally had to hide it from him, it was literally in tatters!  I made a minkie blanket a few months back and he loved it so much he kept asking me to make him one.  So, starting in October, every couple of weeks I'd go to the local craft store and buy a 2 and a half yard piece of minkie fabric.  Soon I had enough for a blanket for Joseph and one for Annalina.  These blankets are so soft and warm.  I think even Richard and Jacob were eying them longingly this morning! 

I am not very good at sewing and these blankets took a lot of work.  Some of the seems are crooked and there are some other imperfections as well.  I am ok with that. I hope that if anything, my kiddos will know how much I love them because although I struggled to complete each blanket, I wanted so much for them to each have one, that even when it got frustrating, I kept going.  Christmas morning was well worth all the effort. The kids wore their blankets around all day!

   

Brown Zebra print on one side...

Giraffe print on the other side! In this photo, Joseph is rubbing the corner on his bottom lip, something he always does with his blankets. It looks like this one passed his test!

Genuine smiles...a rarity from Joseph!

Aren't they just the cutest??

Love my kiddos so much!

Christmas Star

Joseph got to put up the star on the Christmas Tree countdown this year.  Each year they take turns!Just three of them this year! 

Lights, lights and more lights

Temple square was absolutely breathtaking!  Lights everywhere!  I loved it.  It was very crowded, but we managed to get around to most areas and saw lots of beautiful things!  I had a hard time capturing what we saw on my camera, but here are a few photos that turned out okay!

 

 

 

    

I took this photo looking up from under the tree.  It was incredible.

 

 

 

  

  

 

Salt Lake City!!!

One of my happiest memories as a child living in Salt Lake City was going to see Temple Square at Christmas time.  A week and a half ago, I found a great deal on a hotel and booked it so the littles and Richard could experience the same joy.  The littles didn't, but that is okay. They have their own favorite memories, I hope!  We left on Saturday in what was supposed to be a terrible storm. We took the Jeep to be sure we'd get there safely.  It was foggy the entire drive, and we missed seeing the snow covered mountains. Even Lagoon was a bit tricky to see in the fog. We got there in the afternoon and decided to wander City Creek in search of food.  Wow, there were SO many people out, it was tricky to get around at times!  Guess that's what we get for going the weekend before Christmas! 

Outside the HUGE Deseret Book store.

Trying his best to escape the evil camera!

About to enjoy a late lunch of SUSHI!  (After being told the best gift he could give me for Christmas was not to hide from the camera!)

Ready to dig in, Japanese style!

My kids are so awesome, they eat such a variety. It is so fun to take them out!

He looks like a poor homeless child. He got mad when I told him we weren't at the toy store to actually buy something! 

We walked back to the hotel through temple square!  I love it!  I could spend hours on Temple Square, but my family usually gives out before I do. I love the sweet spirit on Temple Square.

A winter wonderland for sure!

   

Isn't she sweet?  Twelve and still not too old to pose for Mom and her camera!