Sun + Sand + Surf = Cancun

The week after Christmas the whole Ebert clan hopped on a plane to Cancun. Chase traveled like a super star and Clara managed to keep all 15 of us on our toes trying to meet her many demanding 'needs'. We still had so much fun! The ruins we visited were amazing, and a natural water park we spent a day at called Xel-Ha was a blast, but even little things like relaxing at the resort and building sand creatures on the beach kept us entertained! I can almost feel the sand under my toes and the sun on my face just thinking about it...

Happy Birthday Kylee!

My cute sis-in-law's birthday celebration consisted of Cafe Rio (never gets old), playing games, eating cake and playing more games. Happy Birthday!

Christmas Day!

To describe Christmas 2009 in a word it was 'relaxed'. My favorite part was definitely Christmas Eve, which was spent at home with the four of us enjoying a cozy meal at our festively decorated dinner table with all our fancy dishes. Chase said it was like being at a restaurant with just us, and I have to agree it really did feel special. We ate ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, and rolls, but the best part was the Christmas miracle I received when Chase ate everything on his plate! Since Chase is a notoriously picky eater (seriously doesn't eat anything) I begged him to let us enjoy a quiet family dinner without any tears, gagging or other dramatics that go along with the cruelty of being 'forced' to eat a delicious healthy meal. He definitely delivered - thanks bud! After dinner we read Luke 2 and talked about the Christmas story for a bit. Then we bundled up to go outside and sprinkle reindeer food on the front lawn, which the kids enjoyed thoroughly. After that it was PJ's, hot chocolate, and watching the movie 'Elf' 'till the kids fell asleep. Then of course the real work began... and continued... and didn't end until about 2am when everything was finally ready for the big day. We were hopeful Chase would get up at a decent hour after last year's fiasco (he woke up in the middle of the night and opened his presents by himself), and we were happy with his 6:30 decision. Presents were a blur - I must have been a little sleepy for some reason :) - but I'm sure it was frantic and fun. Then we had our special 'gingerbread muffins with icing' breakfast, after which the kids played with their toys and mom took a nap! We went up to Grandma & Grandpa Ebert's house at about 4:00 to open more presents, enjoy another good meal and congratulate the newly engaged uncle Jeff and fiance Jen. We tried out the new sleds Santa brought (Clara wearing her princess dress) and determined they were awesome! Good times were had by all. Merry Christmas!

Snow today, Sun tomorrow!

The kids have been counting down to Christmas for the past few months, but I have been counting down to our trip to Cancun and it's finally here! We went sledding this afternoon - which was tons of fun - but I can't wait for tomorrow afternoon when we'll be sitting on the beach with our toes in the sand! The fact that we're buried in snow here makes it that much more exciting. I'd better get packing...

Five days to go...

I know this is cliche, but I really can't believe it's almost Christmas! We're so excited and have been so busy getting ready for the big holiday. We went to the Nutcracker yesterday (something Bri and I try to squeeze in every year if we can) but this year it was extra special because we got to take Chase! His favorite part was the mouse king, and the soldiers, and the Chinese dancers, and the Russian dancers and... :) I'm so glad he loved it because we always do.
Today was great for many reasons. We got a bench in Sacrament meeting - yay! And Clara just about fainted when she saw that her Christmas dress cam with a mini version for her dolly! She carried it everywhere all day. The Christmas program at church was just beautiful; I can't say enough about it! I really love this time of year, but having an amazing Sacrament meeting celebration is just the best. We also made our traditional Rice Crispy Wreaths this morning and took them to some of the kids' friends. It's always fun to do things with my kids that I did when I was a kid!

This week Bri only has to work two days (spoiled!) so we'll be hanging out with our little family doing our own Christmasy things until Friday afternoon. That's when we'll join the rest of the Eberts for Christmas dinner up at Bri's parents house. In the meantime I will be wrapping, delivering, and getting those last little gifts that always slip through the cracks somehow, and hopefully I will find time to get this house cleaned up too! We'll see...

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was delightful. Most of the DeFrancis clan came up for the holiday and Kim and Brad were kind enough to host (amazing since she's having a baby in a month)! Me and the kids made our traditional turkey treats which I've been doing since I was a girl - fun! We played games, had a baby shower for Kimmy, talked and watched football and ate and had a great time. My favorite part was Kim painted little pumpkins for each of us and put them at our place settings. She also had written a little note to each of us on our placemats about why she was thankful for us. It was really sweet. After leaving Kim's house on Saturday all the cousins (and their parents) went to the Discovery Gateway museum. It was a blast! I am grateful for so many things, but family is definitely up at the top. During such incertain times it's great to have a support system that you can always count on. Happy Thaksgiving!

Sleeping Booty Tinker Bell Princess

Clara is crazy into all things girly right now. She LOVES getting into my make-up, wearing at least sixteen 'outfits' a day, clomping around in my high heels, wearing pretties (jewelry), brushing her hair, painting her toes and 'ingers' and smearing gobs of lotion all over the place. I am pretty much used to her appearance, but I always get a kick out of peoples faces when they come to the door and see her wearing three frilly skirts at the same time and running from room to room singing and dancing like she's in a fairytale. She often grabs Chase by the hands and says 'Dance with me Chase!" followed by twirls and spins and leaps. Chase sometimes goes along with it (when I remind him that she plays star wars with him on a daily basis) but usually laughs at her and says dancing is for girls. Nothing makes him laugh like hearing her say "I'm a sleeping booty pwincess!" I have to admit it does sound pretty funny when she walks up to me with mascara smeared across her forehead and says "Look Mom, I'm booty!" The downside to all this is my makeup is getting absolutely destroyed (I end up wearing a little less every day) and so are much of the textiles in our house; from clothing to throw pillows - they all seem to be smeared with some sort of greasy lip smacker substance. I hope this is a phase, or I have one seriously vain daughter!