Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was such a busy day for us. Having just got in the night before we were tired but had a lot to do. We had last minute gifts to get and errands to run. We actually didn't get a whole lot done. It started to snow by the end of the morning and didn't stop. Roads were a mess and so we just bagged the rest of our errands to be on the safe side! For dinner we went to my Aunt and Uncles house. We had such a nice dinner. The food was so yummy, especially after being on the road for three days, not to mention I really hadn't cooked in over a week so a home cooked meal was much needed! Before dinner we decided to snap a picture of my parents grandkids in their outfits. One of my parents gifts to them was new Sunday clothes. My mom made the girls matching skirts and got the boys matching overalls. They looked so cute in them. Getting a picture was difficult but they were doing better than they had been. Ella and Jocey loved matching each other!

After dinner my cousin had put together a program. She did such an amazing job. The kids dressed up as the Nativity and enjoyed singing songs with us. It was amazing the spirit these little kids can bring!

This is truly how getting a picture sometimes really is, one is fine and the other is not having it! This is the best we could do! I think they were a little worn?!?

We went right home and opened our new jammies! Thanks to my sister Emily who picked them out and bought them for us while I was on the phone helping her 1500 miles away, so that all the kids could match once again!

Easton loves to get new clothes and hugs them it is the sweetest thing!

She got the girls ones with tutus! They were in heaven! They danced and twirled their little hearts out!

Aunt Sarah is so lucky to have lots of nieces and nephews around! They all love her so much! Once again the truth of getting a picture with 5 little kids!

We quickly got the kids to bed and Santa's Elves got to work. Andrew got to work on this fun playhouse. My friend Heather may remember helping me haul this from Goodwill last January to my house! I scored this brand new in the box at the Goodwill for 60 bucks! They normally run 3 to 4 times that! I totally forgot we brought it to Utah this summer to store it and remembered a couple days before Christmas! The kids love it!

The kids had a pretty good Christmas. I forgot I had stuff in Utah I bought this summer, I need to start writing things down when I buy they for Christmas because then I end up with to much! They each got about 10 new books they both love to read and my mom lets us order off her book orders so they tend to get a lot of books! For our family we got a Dowdle Puzzle of Memphis. It will be fun to have as a memory of our second home! Ella also changed her mind about 2 weeks before Christmas about what she wanted after everything was already bought. She suddenly wanted a Jasmine doll. She wasn't letting it go either. The Saturday before our move we went to Aldi to see if they still had their princess dolls and sure enough there was 1 left and it was Jasmine, seriously an answer to a prayer! She was so excited to go to bed to wake up and see if Santa left a Jasmine doll! Easton loved all his new cars for his car ramps and loves the basketball hoop!

Princess Castle

After Santa Clause left my parents said they had a surprise for the girls! I had called my parents house a few weeks before and my dad said it took him so long to answer the phone because he was working. It was 10 at night I was confused, well now it all makes sense. He said he almost spilled the beans that night on the phone! Their basement is partially done and before my Grandpa Duzett passed he had framed a little house for kids under the stairs. Well my dad finished it off as a princess castle for the girls! The boys only like the light switch because it is at their level! My sister Emily cut some vinyl on her machine for the letters. They set up two twin beds in the room and laid carpet and it turned into the princess castle. The girls slept in their together all week while they were together. They had so much fun in there! After Jocey went home to Texas Ella was a little creeped out to sleep in there but the kids still love to go down and play in there when we go visit!

When we were younger and all of us kids were still at home my mom made us a Christmas Quilt for our beds and when we got married made us a new one. It is fun to have all the grand kids now use those quilts when they sleep over!

They had a bit of an audience!

Of course no princess castle is complete without three little boys trying to destroy it!

Santa Claus

We had maybe been in my mom's house all of two minutes from our long move before the door bell rang. It was Santa Clause (my little sister's father in law!:) The kids were so excited! He had each one of them sit on his lap! I was surprised my kids obliged and did it, they were so exhausted! I guess the other three times this season payed off! Ella still wanted her Jasmine doll and Easton didn't care!

He gave them this cute big candy canes!

All the cousins together! Those three boys together are trouble already! Easton is a bully and doesn't know how to share, Jack just head buts (it's pretty funny to see!), and Tyler just smiles all the time!

Moving Part 2

Swimming at the Hotel in Fort Smith! My dad was nice enough to sit and be our photographer!

Our last gas stop before we left Grand Junction! The kids were happy again, fed and ready to watch yet another movie! Our car was pretty packed!

Moving Part 1

So I uploaded all my pictures over a week and a half ago, I guess I've been a little busy!

 

Our week of moving began on Sunday the 16th when we picked my dad up from the airport. He came to help and to drive the moving truck back for us. It was nice to have a few days in Memphis with him without a huge rush. We had left a majority of our things packed from our move in May and so we didn't have as much to pack but still a lot. Monday we took my Dad to the Memphis Zoo where it suddenly got cold (it was like 50 which after being in Utah for two weeks is sounding balmy!) We then went and picked Andrew up from school and took my dad to get some Gus's Fried Chicken. It tasted so good, we will miss that place! Tuesday we got up and went to the Park. It was still a little warm out and we didn't want to pack! We then went home and had lunch and packed. That night Andrew's parents got into town. Wednesday we got up and really got to work! We spent the day getting ready and then once Andrew got home we went to Dinner. My dad had been talking about wanting Corky's all week so we headed there, we weren't going to argue with one last chance to enjoy Memphis BBQ! It was so yummy!! We stocked up on their BBQ sauce and dry rub, hopefully it will last us until May and then we will get more while we are back there! Thursday we got up and really got to work, we first went and picked up our truck. The men got to work taking our furniture apart and wrapping it. We had a long day of packing and getting ready to load our truck. Andrew finally rolled into the drive way about 5 min after we had the Elder's quorum ready to help us load. They had the truck loaded within about an hour. We were worried it all wouldn't fit but Andrew worked his magic and most of it did. Friday we woke up and finished loading the other trucks and getting Andrew's truck loaded on the trailer. My nice friend Kate came and brought us some yummy treats for the road and to say goodbye. I wasn't holding it together at all at this point. It was way harder then I ever thought to say goodbye to some people! Southaven had become our home and it is where both of our kids were born! I also decided that morning that I will never move again without having Andrew there to help more. He had to work all the way through Friday the 21st and that week they were super busy and most nights he didn't get home until past 7. I left before my dad and Andrew's parents to get to Andrew's school. He had scheduled the kids appointments to avoid having any one else come. We also talked his staff doctor into letting him leave by 3 so we could get on the road, otherwise we probably wouldn't have gotten out of there by 7! The kids did great getting their eyes checked by the girls in Andrew's suite, but once Easton spotted Andrew he wouldn't let him out of his sight, can't blame him his world keeps getting turned upside down! We finally got on the road at about 4 and drove across Arkansas. I was sad that it was dark because western Arkansas is so pretty! The first hour of our drive I was so overwhelmed and cried a lot. I really was having a hard time leaving. It made it easier to think a lot of our friends are already scattered across the country and that we will see a lot of them again! The first night we stopped in Fort Smith, Arkansas for the night. We had gotten stuck in awful construction/holiday traffic and took us almost an hour and a half to go about 12 miles! We got checked in early enough we were able to swim for about an hour. The kids really needed it and it was so fun! The kids went right to sleep that night, we had wore them out in the pool! The next morning we got going early. We had a great breakfast, went to get gas and hit the road. We drove through Oklahoma, into Kansas. We stopped in Wichita for lunch, we were sad our friends were living in Wichita and moved the day before. We then continued on and stopped in Goodland, Kansas for the night. Goodland was our first taste of the cold. It was like 5 degrees or something! We went and got some food for dinner at the grocery store and then went to bed. We got going by 7 the next morning and on the road. We were able to listen to the Music and Spoken word on our phones to get a little bit of Sunday in. It was nice to here their Christmas songs and messages. We drove into Colorado and then through the mountains where it was snowing but not to bad. We drove out of the snow and stopped for lunch in Grand Junction where Easton had wet through everything! Something always happens in Grand Junction that was our second time going through there with someones clothes being soaked through, and another time Ella puked all over herself and me in Grand Junction! I was done driving and grumpy at this point. After lunch we continued on and drove into Utah! It was such a lovely sight to see! We pulled into my parents drive way at about 7:30. I was so overwhelmed, once again, I don't know what I was so happy about, getting out of the car or seeing family!

 

Eating at Corky's! Easton loved eating the ice!

We went to Target and we can't ever go without stopping to look at the Toys!

We also made a quick stop to Costco to get the wrap for our furniture (which they wouldn't sell to us) and stopped to play with the toys!

The kids had there first experience with ring pops in the car. It was a perfect car trip treat! It kept them quiet for close to an hour and a half! Easton was way sticky but it was worth it! The last day in the car they probably watched 5 movies, installing the DVD player has been worth every last penny we spent on it!

The only picture I got of our truck!

Andrew brought a bunch of eye things to try to make his eyes not hurt by the end of the day, he looked pretty silly!

I think this was in Oklahoma, but it says Easton Street.

Such a great sign to see after 1400 miles!

While I cleaned the house and finished loading the car the kids watched Elmo's World on the Nook! It kept them from bugging me for over an hour!

Our van hit 50,000 miles about 100 miles into our trip. We bought it in July with 37,500 miles, we have driven A LOT!