Cheese Ball

2 8 oz Cream Cheese
1 5 oz jar Old English Spread (Kraft)
1/2 cup grated Cheddar Cheese
1 t. Lemon Juice
1 t. Garlic Powder (scant)
Nuts

Mix all ingredients well, chill 1 hour. Form into a ball and roll in nuts.

Sometimes You Must Run Before You Can Crawl

Aleky is displaying an athletic ability that has laid dormant until know. All of a sudden he has decided to burst out of his shell. Michelle walked into the boy's bedroom only to discover Aleky in David's top bunk bed. We have cause to be afraid...very afraid.

Winter Wonderland

There is something beautiful about newly fallen snow. If the snow looked like this all winter I think I could handle the coldness a little better. With a yard like this I just feel like I'm in a winter wonderland.

Creativity Abounds...Gingerbread House Artisan Discovered

David is having a wonderful time in school this year. I have to admit that I pause a little longer than necessary to watch David run all the way to the school entrance. I love to see his enthusiasm. The next best thing is when he comes home with his art, craft, or school work and in so excited to show me what he has done. I never knew I would be so excited about this kind of stuff.

With the Christmas season comes all sorts of fun arts and crafts. This time David brought home a gingerbread house made of graham crackers. He was pretty excited to show it to me before he devoured his yummy creation. We did make him wait until after he ate some real food (a.k.a. dinner) before he ate all the good stuff. But he was so nice and was willing to share with his brothers too.

Christmas Decorations Are Up

While it has taken some dedication (on Michelle's part) the Christmas decorations are finally up! We're in a festive mood here and we've taken to listening to FM 100 (which seems to be dedicated to Christmas music during the month of December). I love listening to Christmas music and wouldn't mind if the season lasted longer than just December (and the radio stations seems to have more music than I do!)

This is our All Seasons Welcome Moose.

Michelle made our snowmen several years ago and they've complimented our decorations ever since.

The whole family...seems to take up the entire fireplace!


And our Christmas tree.

We'll probably get to enjoy our decorations at least until the New Year!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Decorating the Christmas tree is always an adventure. Michelle has developed a special technique of wrapping the lights on each branch so that the entire tree lights up! That takes some dedication but it makes the tree so beautiful. Once the tree lights were on David went around the entire house, turned off the lights and then just stood in the doorway and admired the Christmas tree.

The boys were as eager to help as ever as they rushed around trying to help with the lights, the handing decorations, with anything they could get their hands on. And they literally ran!

Once the lights were completed the boys really got involved hanging the decorations. So the decorations seemed weighted toward the bottom half of the tree but that doesn't really matter. It's the thought that counts, right?

When Michelle pulled out the Christmas bells, Michael became the guardian of the bells. Now the intention was that he would hand them out, but he was more of a protector than a distribution specialist. Eventually all of the bells found their way to the tree.

Now decorating a tree isn't all fun and games! It is serious work and not something to be taken lightly by the faint of heart. Trying to get those little loops over the prickly pine needles takes some coordination and some patience. At one point it just became too much for our boys to handle...

But all is not lost. After the boys finished their decorating and were in bed for the night, Michelle and I helped to redistribute the trinkets around the tree, allowing many to reach the top most branches. (Some of our plastic ice sickles didn't survive the season and have fallen by the way side. It has been sad to watch them die but this is the way of all things.)

It has been a joy to watch our boys get so excited about decorating the tree and getting ready for Christmas. David is especially excited this year. Donovan seems to be getting in the mood. Michael is just along for the ride and figures if the other boys are doing it then he want to be a part of it too. Aleky is just excited to explore and find new things to put in his mouth. It is wonderful to have our growing boys.

Ward Christmas Party & Nativity

We had the opportunity to attend our ward Christmas party last night. There was quite a turn out, I'd have to say it was quite a success. The activities committee had put paper over the tables so that we could color while we waited for the rest of the ward to show up. My boys thought that was a brilliant idea. Aleky just thought it was the first course and started trying to eat it but Donovan and Michael went to town.



Michelle was asked to participate in the ward choir just moments after we arrived.


David was able to participate as a shepherd in the primary nativity (for which the ward choir was providing the accompaniment).

It was great to get together with the ward, especially since so many came out to support this activity. When our ward is united we have some awesome activities. This happened to be one of those moments. And just in time to celebrate Christmas.

The First Snow-Fall of The Season

Well, it's finally happened. Snow has arrived in Utah (and not just in the tops of the mountains)! The boys were going crazy when they realized that snow was falling. This morning they were playing downstairs to avoid cleaning up the living room so they didn't notice the first snow flakes. I couldn't help it...I let the cat out of the bag and told them it was snowing outside. They came storming up the stairs like a herd of elephants and I barely escape the stampede!

Since David is old enough to quickly dress himself he was outside in a flash! The only problem is "what do you do in the snow all by yourself?"

After a few minutes of wandering around the yard he came back inside the house. It was warmer and that's where his brothers were. While Donovan and Michael were distracted, David found the Leapster and started playing one the games. Now that Donovan and Michael were dress they had their chance to go play in the snow. With 2 of them out there they could have a little more fun.

Well, David is not one to be left out of a good time for long! So he rejoined his siblings for an exciting outing in the snow. With their new snow boots and heavy-duty mittens they could withstand the cold for hours...apparently! It was so quite in my office that I had to check on where the boys had gotten off to. And there they were, playing in the snow have a good ole time.

I love the snowy part of winter...it's the cold that doesn't go away that I could do without. But I guess it 'tis the season. I'm excited that the boys had a great time outside!

Family Pictures

It's picture time once again. I'm not sure who decided that the cool November air was best for pictures but it is becoming a family tradition. For the most part it seems to be crunch time for Christmas cards and we try to send our family picture at the same time. It is supposed to make things more convenient but sometimes I wonder about our thinking on the matter.

There is something about having 4 wonderful boys and trying to take family pictures. We've found that our boys are quite wonderful and ahead of the average in just about every way. In fact, each boy only has about a 25% chance of acting up during an entire photo shoot! The problem is that there is a 95% chance that each boy's 25% chance of acting up will happen sequentially and not simultaneously.

See, if it was simultaneous we would have a few moments of chaos and anarchy followed by nearly 2 hours of peace, happiness and amazing pictures. This, however, is definitely not the case this time. Each boy wanted their own moment is the agony spotlight of our photo shoot. Check it out...

First Donovan can't find his smile. I know it's there but it is definitely turned upside down. And who can blame Aleky for bugging out when the happy talk to Donovan begins. I mean, come on! There are places to explore and trouble to be found. Why wait for an uncooperative smile? Just what is a kid supposed to do? Michael decided to go fishing...for sticks. That looked like fun so David decided to play too. After an extensive explanation of all the reason it was in Donovan's best interest to smile for the picture we had success!

While the happiness of our success consumed us we moved on to a new location. Next it was the leaves! How do you convince young boys not to play in the leaves while taking family pictures? We couldn't figure it out but if anyone has suggestions please let us know!

We wanted to try and get a few more pictures so that we could choose the absolute best picture possible. But I tell you what...children reach a point and then they are done and there is nothing you can do about it. Although we tried everything we could think of to keep the interested.

Let's face, kids just aren't very excited about sitting around and smiling! To them...what's the point?

David dropped out of the happiness race...literally!

Even Aleky was finally done with it all. He wanted to explore this new terrain! So the smiles left and the running and exploring finally began.

Michael did the best of the 4 boys. While he wasn't perfect he was comparatively an angel.

So there you have it. A simple photo shoot turned wild but we managed to find out happy family somewhere in the middle!

With the boys distracted by exploring and playing in the fields and leaves we took a quick moment to get our own couple pictures. It seemed too easy to get us together and smiling at the same time...moving an arm or hand or head without complaint!

I have to say that of all the amazing women in the world I found the most amazing one of all. Michelle has so many amazing qualities that it takes 5 boys just to try and equal 1 Michelle. She has amazing ideas and insight. I just don't know what I would do without her! I love her with all my heart.

And while the sunset was very romantic we didn't really get to enjoy it like we should have. The pictures didn't turn out (they need light or something like that). The boys had to be collected up and returned to the car. It was getting cold and our amazing photographer, Stacy Phipps, had children to feed. But it is still a wonderful memory for our family.

Thank you to Uncle Kyle for helping to watch all of the children and trying to get them to smile. And thank you to Stacy for taking time out of her busy day to take the pictures. They are wonderful!

December Date

Michelle and I were so excited to have our first date...in a long time. Maybe it's just me but we don't seem to have people falling over themselves trying to babysit 4 young boys at the same time. It didn't seem quite as tough when we had one cute little cherub to watch, but alas, I digress...

We had planned a double date with Neil and Kelley Johnson, to go and play in Salt Lake City. Obviously there was some travel time to calculate into our day. And our babysitter was Grandma Petersen, out in Grantsville. We did the math and even added in some extra time just in case we ran into some delays along the way. It shouldn't have been too tough. Our first stop was the Salt Lake Temple for the 3:00 session.

It is amazing how quickly time flies when you're having fun. We had the kids all packed and loaded into the car ahead of schedule (a little bit). And then we started the "little errands" along the way. First we dropped some dishes off here and some ingredients off there. Next we had to swing by this store and pick up several things from that store. And all of a sudden we realized that we were behind schedule! It's still a mystery how we lost so much time but we found ourselves about 15 minutes behind schedule! It doesn't seem like a lot and normally I would have been pretty pleased with myself.

We made it to Grantsville and took the kids in along with all of the stuff. Grandma Petersen just looks at us and says, "you're not gonna make the 3:00 session." Well we run out the door anyway and call the Johnsons just to find out where they're at and let them know we're running just a little behind schedule. We made it to Salt Lake City, Temple Square in fact, at 2:45! If we could have found a place to park we still might have made it...but apparently everyone heard we were coming to Temple Square and were eager to see us make our grand entrance and they all forgot to leave us a special parking spot. So after several laps around the conference center parking garage we manage to find a lone spot that we could squeeze our vehicle into.

At this point there was no need to run or rush to get to anywhere since we had a full hour before the next session would begin. We wandered up to the conference center and admired the set-up for the Christmas devotional. It is simply amazing to see how large the conference center really is! We met up with the Johnsons at the conference center and headed over to Temple Square. Since it was cold we decided not to dilly-dally and headed straight inside where it was warm.

At this point it would have been helpful to know some of the local customs. In particular, we didn't know about bringing the parking ticket with you so that you can get a token, a get out of parking free pass. The nice temple worker just looked at me with one of those gazes that you don't want to endure for too long but reluctantly gave me a token anyway with a stern admonition to remember the ticket in the future and to tear up the ticket in the car. It might not have been so bad except I had already forgotten my tie! It was in the "stuff" we took into Grandma's house with the kids. Having now been sufficiently humbled we headed into the temple to change clothes for the 4:00 temple session.

I think it was good to have a little extra time in the chapel to get myself spiritually organized for the upcoming session. Having missed our planned 3:00 session, no tie, driving endlessly around the parking garage and not bring the ticket about had me at my wits end. Fortunately, I've had too much experience make silly situations so I think I handled it okay.

The temple session was great. I really enjoyed the beauty of the Salt Lake Temple. And I especially enjoyed moving from one room to the next, walking hand in hand with my sweetheart! You don't get to do that in just any temple. And since it's been a little while since we've been to the temple together is made for a special time.

Once the session was over we quickly changed clothes. Neil and I were waiting for Kelley and Michelle, who had managed to take a least one wrong turn and eventually came wandering out from one of the many other hallways in that temple. The claimed it was intentional but I wasn't convinced. We sent the ladies to The Garden restaurant to get a reservation while Neil and I headed back to the cars to put away some of the extraneous apparel. We quickly rejoined our spouses in the crowded lobby. On the way to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building we passed crowds of people enjoying the Christmas lights but one couple stood out of the crowd. It was the beautiful blushing bride trying to wedding pictures amidst the teaming masses and the frigid night air! What some people will do for a picture...


Our wait was supposed to be 30 minutes but when your hungry I think time slows down just a bit. In any case we soon had our table and quickly placed our orders. The meal was wonderful and we enjoyed a view of the Salt Lake Temple, all lit for the holidays (at least the grounds are decorated for the season, not so much the temple itself).

After dinner we had to make a difficult decision, do we walk around and enjoy the lights, get in line for the Joseph Smith movie at the Legacy theater, or call it a night so we can get home at a decent hour. With this being our one chance for freedom we didn't feel that going home was the best decision so we choose to watch the movie.


The Johnsons had already seen the movie but they assured us that it was worth watching a second time. We have wanted to watch this movie for some time so we were excited to watch it. We didn't have to get tickets but the usher let us know that the previous 2 shows had been completely full and we should get in line immediately. So we headed to their antechamber to wait the 30 minutes until the show was to start. Neil opted for the power-nap to re-energize himself for the remainder of the night (we still have to count travel time back!). Finally our 9:00 show was ready to start and we headed in for some great seats right in the middle of the theater. Lucky for us, Kelley stopped and grabbed some extra Kleenex so that we could get through the movie.

It was truly an amazing depiction of the life of Joseph Smith Jr. It is one of those movies in which they did such a good job I'm almost afraid to let my kids watch it until they are older. Joseph went through some amazingly cruel trials (and that doesn't even mention all the things the other saints went through). It was a moving movie and certainly gives you a better appreciation for all the Joseph did to bring about the restoration of the gospel.

After the movie we had to take in some of the lights. So we walked briskly, took a few pictures and then headed for the cars. It was a fantastic evening. In spite of the drama we had a wonderful time, a spiritually uplifting and invigorating time. And it doesn't hurt to have a little break from 4 amazing, adorable, animated and spirited children.

Hopefully we'll be able to take the kids on a stroll through Temple Square while it is still decorated for the season. In the meantime, we had a wonderful evening with some wonderful friends. And now we have an endearing memory for a lifetime.