Christmas morning is always the wonderful culmination of so much planning and waiting. It's such a blast! My favorite part is seeing all the gifts our kids give each other. They work hard to earn money and save up for just the right thing for each person. They anxiously await to see how excited their sibling will be about the gift they know is "perfect". They are so cute with each other.
Bryan designed this poster in Photoshop and had it printed. It had all of Colton's favorite soccer teams on it. Way cool!
Bryan designed and made this wood plaque for Mark in his woodworking class at school. It is of Manchester United, both he and Mark's favorite team!
Bryan also made these wood pens in his class for me and Morgan...
Morgan's nickname at our house is "Q-Lo" (Queen of Leftovers). Any leftovers we bring back from a restaurant...she finds...no matter how we try to hide them.
This particular picture of Christ (the Prodigal Son)was one of the things Bryan wanted the most. Beautiful picture by Greg Olsen.
The only thing Mark asked for was Louis Lamour books, so I gave him all of them (over 100)! That should keep him busy for awhile!
And of course we did our "Polar Bear Swim". Morgan has been joining the boys lately. She wants the money! She's braver than me. I don't want to jump in that freezing pool! So fun to watch though!
Every year at Christmas our kids take the Polar Bear Challenge. They each get $10 if they decide to brave the icy 45 degree waters of our swimming pool. They have to jump in off the waterfall (so their head goes under the water). They earn extra money if they go to the bottom to grab toys and bring them up. So fun to watch!
The POLAR BEAR CHALLENGE began last year, the Christmas after we built our pool. Mark enticed our children with the promise of $10 each if they would jump off the waterfall into the deep end of our pool (that way there was no way they wouldn't go all the way under the cold water). It was Christmas Eve day and the water temperature was in the forties...no way was I going in! Mark tried to convince me but I told him it would take a lot more than $10!
We started with the youngest...
Kyle enjoys proving daily that he is every bit as big as his older siblings.
Mark was ready with a nice warm towel to wrap each of the kids up in...
One towel was not enough...it was COLD!!
Here goes Bryan....
CANONBALL!!!
Yikes that's cold!!
Bombs away Colton!!
Everyone except Morgan took a turn. It takes a lot more than 10 bucks to convince us girls to brave that cold water!
Kyle apparently hadn't had enough because he decided to take another dip!
Can you tell by the look in his eyes how quickly he is trying to reach the edge of the pool?
The most important thing in my life is my family. I love my dear husband and 4 wonderful children (ages 11 through 18). I am a stay-at-home mom (my dream job!). Some of my favorite things to do include cooking (and eating!), photography, reading, piano, flute, watching my favorite TV shows, swimming, traveling, and most recently...using the rip stick with my kids. I would love to attend culinary school someday & fit my love of photography in with that somehow. My dream vacation is Italy - something I was recently blessed to experience! I'd love to return and see more of that beautiful and DELICIOUS country! My days are usually full of running kids to and from activities - scouts, sports, music and church. Sometimes I have to remind myself to breathe, but I absolutely LOVE my crazy life and the people I am lucky enough to share it with!
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