Happy Birthday Hudson

For Hudson's birthday we took him to Hop 2 It. It's an indoor bounce house place (aka: germ factory, don't worry I made them all come home and shower!) (weird mom!) They had a blast!!! They played for about 2 hours, then we came home so we could get ready for the family party!

 

 

We had Nachos with all the fixings including my homemade salsa!! It's yummy, it feeds a crowd and it's kid friendly. Win, Win, Win!

6 years old!

 

 

YAY!!

There's nothing like a birthday with tons of people you love around!!

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Huddo!

Christmas Day 2013

 

Joslyn and her Bitty Baby

 

 

Ninja Turtle battles

 

 

They couldn't be happier with this gift from Santa!!

 

We opened presents and played until about 12:30 and then went up to Nate's parents' for Christmas dinner. I love Christmas Day it is so wonderful to be with family.

Opening presents from Grandma and Grandpa Catmull:

Joslyn and Ashley got 30th anniversary Cabbage Patch Dolls!

 Braiden and Brody got nice sleeping bags and Hudson got a Ninja Turtle toy (that ended up being a duplicate so a few days later we went to the store and he traded it for Madden 13, such a boy! I don't think he had any influence from his older brothers on that decision...NOT! They all love it though!) 

I didn't get any pics of anyone else opening their presents, too much going on!

Look at this picture, do you see my nephew in his BYU football uniform, how cute is that?!

 

It was a Very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

For Christmas Eve we went out to my parents' house for hors d'oeuvres and Christmas Eve activities.

The kids colored pictures of the nativity. Some didn't last very long.

 

 

They opened their Christmas jammies from Grandma and Grandpa

 

 

These guys know the routine now, they would say things like, "I wonder what our pajamas will be like this year." or "I can't wait to open our pajamas from Grandma."  Little stinkers. ;)

 

Back at home we had to get our yearly pics in front of the tree.

Ready for Santa to come:

Catmull Christmas Party

This year the theme for the Catmull Christmas party was The Polar Express! We came in our pajamas and had breakfast for dinner. Now that's my kind of party!!! Nate's cousin did an amazing job, there was every kind of cereal imaginable on the cereal bar, as well as all the traditional breakfast foods.  I really do need to take better pictures of her work. We got our tickets punched and boarded the "train" headed for the North Pole, and guess what? Santa was there!!

Braiden:

 

Santa should have brought one of these for all the kids so they don't fight over it during church. ;)

 

Hudson:

All things Ninja Turtle for this kid!

 

Brody:

 

Brody got a Boise State football.

 

No tears this year!!

 

 

Joslyn is saying, "I wanted this!"

 

Such a fun evening, and a fun tradition!

Birthday Season is Here

 

Yes, I made myself a Texas Sheet Cake for my birthday. ;)

Yes, it was dang good. &

 Yes I am older than 6. :)

 

Let birthday season commence!!

 

Brody's birthday landed on a Saturday this year (Dec 14) and the ski resort had just opened the day before, so we figured what a fun birthday activity!!

 

Here's Brody! He learned to ski on his 9th Birthday!!!

 

 

 

 

It wasn't bad teaching the older two to ski, a couple times with help down the bunny hill and they were ready to do it on their own! Hudson just wanted to go sit the car. :D

 

After a fun day on the hill we went back down to Albion to watch the live nativity and have little birthday party!

 

 

Before the nativity started the kids got to go around and pet the animals! The camels are always the main attraction.

During the presentation there was this little goat that was bleating so loud the whole time. I couldn't help but think about Mary and baby Jesus trying to get some rest amongst the stable animals who probably weren't so quiet just like that little goat! There is something really neat about watching a live nativity the spirit is so strong and it makes you think about things you may not have thought before.

 

Party Time:

 

9 candles

 

 

About a week before his birthday grandma gave him a paper and told him to write a list of things he wanted. This is what he wrote:

 

A Minion

a small bag of jerkey

some mints

a hot wheels car

that's all Grandma

 

I love it!!

 

A Minion just like he told Grandma and Grandpa he wanted

 

 

I've decided that a birthday just before Christmas is pretty great because these kids were pretty content playing with Brody's birthday goodies pretty much until Christmas!

 

What a fun packed day!! Just what a birthday should be.

 

 

 

*****

 

 

Brody wanted to have a little party with his friends, it was low key and a lot of fun!

 

 

I had planned to do a movie party but after he opened his gifts all those boys wanted to do was play.  I wasn't about to make them stop playing to watch a movie so I just went with it. It was a war zone in the basement you couldn't go down there without getting hit with a nerf dart. :) They had fun and it was pretty easy as far as birthday parties go!

 

 

Thanksgiving Weekend Fun

 

 

Every year I say, "lets just go buy a fake tree." That way we don't have to drive up the mountain, get stuck, hassle with other drivers on the one way roads, walk around the mountain trying to find the perfect tree that has been growing beautifully for 35 years (no kidding) just to cut down and put in our house for a month then throw out!! But then mid November rolls around and all I can remember is the fun of it all, I long for the fresh cut tree smell and the chill of the mountain air. Then we get up there and I say, "why didn't we just go get a fake tree." :)

 

No, it is a fun tradition. Although I do feel bad cutting down a tree that has been growing for longer than I have been alive!

So here's our Christmas tree!

 

 

 

This one was a bugger.  It had a little bit of a crooked trunk so it tipped over TWICE. (eiyiyi!)

 

After our fun day on the mountain we made our way to the Rupert Square to enjoy some hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls and to watch Santa Clause turn on the lights and then watch the fireworks. This just might be the favorite Thanksgiving weekend tradition!! I love it, some years it is freezing cold but this year the temperatures were pretty mild!

 

Here's the kids watching the fireworks:

 

My mom is amazing! She made and put together gingerbread houses for the kids to decorate.  They had so much fun. 

Look at that mess, she's is so brave!

 

 

Here's our little gingerbread village!

 

We saw this idea in the Better Homes and Gardens magazine, so the big girls got to make a snow globe city! Cute!

 

Thanksgiving 2013

 We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with the Mickelsen family!!  Lots of good food and fun playing with cousins!

After dinner per tradition, the guys go out and shoot clay pigeons. Get out the ear plugs!

It was a beautiful day...LOOK at that sky!! Hudson just hung out on the 4-wheeler watching the action.

 

 

 Here's Nate throwing a clay pigeon for Braiden.  He hit some! I was impressed! I wouldn't be able to hit a stationary target, and a moving one, not in a long shot! (OOooohahaha! :D)

Here is my brother and my nephew. (father and son)   Last time we measured I was only taller than Ethan by about an inch, I'm sure he's passed me up by now! Freaky!!

 

I love this picture of my dad, my nephew and my brother. (father, son, father, son) I wonder who got the target??

 

While the guys are out shooting the girls stay in an do paper crafts...my fav!

 



My Tiny Dancer

Little Miss is loving dance class, the cuteness of it all kills me week after week!

 

 

These are a couple of our favorite dance outfits:

 

 

 

This is her winter performance costume:

(love it!! very practical!!)

 

 

 

Dance hair:

 

She loves her dance hair and even sits nice while it gets done! WOW! Such a girl.♥

 

Here they are at festival of trees! When my friends see my boys at the performances they are always amazed that I was able to get my them to come. :D 2 things...  1: they didn't have an option and 2: Do you know how many of their ball games x 3 she has sat through!!! They can surely watch their little sister dance for 1 hour 5 times a year!!!

 

 

Here are her two dances for your viewing pleasure!

 

In both dances she is the fourth one in from the right...the one hamming it up on stage!

 

Sugar, Sugar

 

 

 

If All of the Rain Drops

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These videos were of the very first performance, they got much, much better by the third! Still, SO. DANG. CUTE!! At least everyone was dancing and no one was bawling. :)

A Fall Project Complete

It seems funny to be writing about a fall project in January but I am trying to play catch up, so here we go! ;)

We have had "build a shed" on our to do list for quite a while now.  Winter was creeping up on us so we had to do something!! I love the way it turned out!! It took about 3 GOOD weekends and lots of help from family but it is done! It is so nice to have the lawn mowers, weed eaters, bicycles, coolers etc. OUT of our space. We can now park two cars in our two car garage...that's always nice!!

Trick-or-Treat

 

How did August turn in to November??? I feel bad that I have neglected my blog for so long. 

I've been working on Hudson's baby scrapbook lately (when I can find the time) and I realized something, this blog is very valuable!! There is a ton of journaling to do but he was born 5 almost 6 years ago!! There's a lot that I don't remember, little details you know (which is sad.) So I turn to my blog, I love, love, love, looking back and reading and watching my little munchkins grow and change!

 

We made it through football season, 3 boys on 3 different football teams, it was pretty wild! They love it, and I love it when it is over...I mean when it is over I can look back and say, that was fun! :) My 11 year old knows more about the sport than I do. He knows the calls the refs on TV are going to make before they make them!! eiyiyi! I'm glad they love it and I'm glad that they can share that with their dad.

 

I am enjoying my new calling, I am learning so much! It really makes me study and rely on the spirit.  2 weeks ago my lesson was on How Can I Develop Christlike Love?  I fell in love with the talk by President Uchtdorf The Merciful Obtain Mercy I read that talk over and over I even made handouts to go with the lesson.  Well, Saturday night rolled around and I was putting together my lesson, organizing all of my thoughts and not one part of that talk made it into my lesson, I even threw the handouts away. I ended up doing my whole lesson on President Monson's talk: Charity Never Faileth.  It was the Lord's way of telling me, "Yes, you needed to hear, The Merciful Obtain Mercy. But the girls need, Charity Never Faileth. I am so grateful for the spirit to guide me though this, I could not do it with out!! I showed this video, I bawl and bawl every time I watch it.  This Church is amazing!!!

 

Little Joslyn is in dance and she is loving it!! Her first performance is tomorrow!! I can't wait to watch her. She asks me just about every day if she has dance. If I say no she gets mad at me and says "you always say no dance today!!"

 

Hudson is in kindergarten and is doing so great! I am amazed at the stuff they are learning!! WOWEE! But they get it, those young minds are little sponges soaking it all in.  I help in his class on Tuesdays for 30 min.  It is so funny to see those little kids, they are always excited to see me (I'm not sure why... ;) ) "Hi, Mrs. Catmull!!!" They say, so cute!

 

 

Here are my kiddos on Halloween:

 

 

I made Hudson be Peter Pan, he was OK with it in the end.  Joslyn was Tinkerbell & we had that awesome costume from when Braiden was Peter Pan hmmm 6 years ago (?) When he was 5.  So he had to! At first he'd say everyone is going to think it's dumb! :( But when it all boils down, all they want to do is dress up! Mom and I bought Brody's costume the day before at Target, it's pretty much all they had left. He is out growing the cartoon character or super hero costumes, so this was our choice.  I don't care for the disgusting mask but there again, all they really want to do it dress up & he thought it was fabulous! Braiden was a Hobo. He is at the age where you have to be creative with costumes.  He came up with the idea, I made it happen! I'm all about that!! I guess on Halloween his school is on the 1:00 bell schedule and then at 1:00 they have a Halloween dance in the gym.  Imagine my relief when he told me that he forgot his activity card and $2.00 and didn't really care to go.  So he and his best friends went to his Advisory teachers room and watched The Croods. Fewsh!! I'm glad we're not there yet!

After school we went over to Nate's grandma's to trick-or-treat and the kids found her GIANT leaf pile! I've never seen them have so much fun!! I love this pic of them smiling so big and having fun together! Brody is off to the side raking the leaves into a bigger pile.

Here I think Tinkerbell is throwing leaves at the two boys.  She really is a rotten little stinker in the movie.  In the Tinkerbell movies she is sweet and creative and friendly but in Peter Pan she is a naughty little fairy.  We're going Secret of the Wings here! :)

Happy Fall Y'all!!