Christmas Eve 2007

It is Christmas Eve and I am waiting for the kids to go to sleep so Gary and I can finish up down stairs. The babies woke up last night with the flu so we didn't plan to do any of our traditional Christmas Eve things since we didn't know what today would bring. To our surprise, Caleb and Gillian both slept a lot today and seemed so much better tonight as you can tell from the pictures. Yeah!

The big boys went caroling in our circle with our friends next door then Garrett dressed up as Santa (I guess) and made us all laugh so hard. He was hilarious! Caleb figured out pretty quickly that Garrett was "the pretend Santa" but went along with it to get a present. Gillian stayed away.

After the Santa Show, Gary spent the evening in Santa's Workshop where we have set traps outside the door of the bonus room in order to catch any children who might try to sneak a pre-Christmas peek. We have "Do Not Enter" signs posted all along the hallway and the kids are dying to see what is going on in there. Hahahahahahahah. It is hysterical.

I will post more pictures tomorrow.

Our Ward Christmas Party

We had a great Ward Activity last weekend that our family had the good fortune to help plan and implement. Our Activities Committee took the ever popular "Trip to Bethlehem" program and told the story of Jesus Christ's birth from the Book of Mormon stand point. It was an incredible evening!

We jazzed up our nativity costumes with some bright colors and animal prints and decorated the cultural hall with fabric wrapped booths, white lights and lots of greenery. It was so beautiful. (the pictures don't really do it justice but you can get the idea).

We served food and had crafts at the booths. Everyone was really busy moving about the marketplace visiting and hitting all the shops.

The program that my friend, the Bishop's wife planned was awesome. When everyone first entered the city of Zarahemla, they were asked if they believed in the Christ that was to come. Of course they all said, "Yes" so they were given a bracelet as a symbol that they were a "Believer". During the night, little vignettes were going on where different Book of Mormon Prophets were portrayed talking or preaching in the marketplace just like it might have been during that time. People would stop what they were doing and gather in the center of the marketplace to listen. Actors in the audience portraying "Non Believers" would talk against the prophesies saying that it wasn't true that God would send a Savior born in the East. Incredibly, others who weren't a part of the script would just randomly chime in saying things like, "We believe", "Have faith", "How do you know that a Savior won't come?", "We know that God will bless us with a Savior", etc.

Even the littlest of children got into it. They listened to everything that was going on and participated in their own way. As you can see from the slide show below, Caleb had a sword and pretty much tried to take on any bad guy (as he called them) that didn't believe in Jesus. Way cute!

There were also slide shows and music that would play depicting the birth of our Savior. It was a beautiful evening and a lot of fun. Our family was grateful to be a part of this special night. We all agreed that it set a wonderful tone for our whole Ward Family's Christmas Celebrations.

A Trip to Zarahemla

The King

A few weeks ago after Caleb watched Gillian's, Barbie Island Princess Movie he wanted to look like the prince. He kept saying, "I want that on my head" pointing to the Prince's crown. So I made him a crown and he has been wearing it ever since. He wears it to preschool, in the car, around the house, outside playing and even to bed. He gets upset when he can't find his "King" as he refers to it. Now we can't get it off him. Oh....... what have I done???????

Boas and Scarves.....Gillian's New Thing

Tulare Christmas Parade 2007

Peanut Butter, Sweet Peanut Butter!

Caleb decided that he was hungry the other night and instead of asking for something to eat, he climbed on top of the counter, then up into the cupboards (3 shelves high), got the peanut butter and hunkered down in the family room for a little midnight snack. When I saw what he was doing, I was so mad but then I started to laugh at the unbelievable scene. Peanut butter was everywhere and Caleb was smearing it and licking it all up. It was funny and naughty all at the same time. That's our Caleb. Now we not only have to keep locks on the lower shelves for Gillian, but we need to have them up high too. Oh brother.

Thanksgiving 2007

This year we went to my cousin Lee's home in Lake Forrest for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. His wife Julie did almost all of the cooking and I brought Marie Calendar pies. (Boy did I get off easy!) Julie's family was there from Utah as well as my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Gary and a few of my other cousins that I hadn't seen in years. My mom and my brother Duane came over too. We had a huge group. It was a lot of fun to have a little time to reconnect with my cousins and watch our children play together. I am so thankful for such a wonderful family.

Click on the Title below and see Garrett with the Tulare Western Band performing this year's stage show. Go Mustangs!

Pandoras Box

Garrett and his good friend Clara after a long day and a great performance! Clara's mom and I drove down to L.A. to watch the show and do a little shopping. We all had a super day!

Disneyland November 2007

We went to Disneyland for our annual Thanksgiving week trip. We had a great time. We spent a lot of time on Tom Sawyer's Island exploring and helping Caleb look for Pirates and Griffin was chosen to attend Jedi Training School. Fun, Fun, Fun!

Sweet Baby Gillian Turns a Corner

Just a note about our sweet baby girl. I have been loving seeing certain differences between gillian and her brothers. One thing I was really excited about was her incredible calmness and peacefulness. I have been thinking how much easier in some ways that gillian has been for us......well that is until yesterday. Right in the middle of Cameron's doctor appt. gillian decided for whatever reason that she was done waiting in that room and threw herself down on the floor kicking and screaming. I tried to pick her up, change the subject, give her a toy and she wouldn't stop. I had to take her to the car with Cam and go back and finish getting the paperwork together for the hospital. Then she stated again this morning over a ponytail holder that she wanted to put in her mouth. So now I know that I am not going to escape the dreaded temper tantrums that we experienced with 1 or 2 of our other boys and I feel a little let down. I guess if I were to glide thru this next few months with gillian she wouldn't really be a Yentes. All of our boys have been inquizative, active and social.......Always wanting to try something new and be where all the action was. Gillian is no different. She stands at the back door and beats on it saying, "out", or "dog" or "shoes" which all means "let me out of here." She climbs like a monkey all over the chairs, tables and couches. Most of our furniture is sitting on the back patio or in the garage. We have a hard time keeping her out of things too. The few cupboards that we can't put locks on never, ever go unnoticed by her. Toys aren't that impressive to her anymore she wants to be on the trampoline or chasing the dog instead. The question becomes, "Can Mom and Dad make it thru this one last time?" Our sweet little baby girl is now our sweet little mischevious monkey. She has turned a corner indeed.

Cameron's 2nd Visit to the Hospital

Well after looking at Cameron's x-rays yesterday, I knew we were heading to the hospital for surgery. The doctor said that she had a bad time trying to get his bones to line up in the ER Thursday night but it could work out fine. One quick peek at the x-ray told us that it wasn't going to work out fine. So back to the hospital we went. Cameron did very well. He was nervous of course and worried that he would feel the doctors doing the reduction again like he had in the ER but we just kept talking to him and encouraging him. I had to step out a few times because I had my own fears and needed to cry a little so gary being the rock that he is held everything together for all of us. The hardest part was watching Cameron be wheeled into the operating room knowing that he was scared and wanting us to stay by his side but he came thru it really well and doesn't remember a thing. The doctor ended up having to do another open reduction (making an incision on the top of the hand so she could see the bones) and then put 2 pins in the bones. Now he has a short cast and the x-rays look so much better. We are much happier with the way the bones are lined up so all is well with him for now.

The Boys Doing Their Thing.....

Our Baby Girl

Caleb Sightings

Big brother Garrett and his favorite D. Cowboy cheerleader.

Every year we host a Trick or Treat party on our front porch and spread the word to friends to stop by and have some soup, lots of treats and show us their costumes. Our kids travel the neighborhood circle with a new group of friends every 15 minutes or so. It has become a fun family tradition as well as a tradition that we celebrate with many of our friends. This year's party was a little crazy. We had more Trick or Treaters than ever before as well as our invited guests. Several people ended up on our porch that we didn't even know who wanted to eat and hang out with us. The porch did look inviting but we may have to figure out a different way to get candy to our Trick or Treaters and still host our party for our friends and family. All in all it was a fun evening.

Thursday after school Gary got the call that Cameron had broken some bones. A first in the Yentes Family History. (well gary may have broken something when he was a kid but the rest of us......not until the day after Halloween 2007). Cam took a bad fall during a soccer practice, snapped his wrist off on both bones and or course dislocated everything. Ouch! After 5 hours in the Emergency Room, the possibility of surgery, lots of morphine, x-rays and relocation of everything (super painful according to Cameron) he came home with a cast and a little bit of a heavy heart. Cameron realized that he wouldn't be able to finish out the soccer season for either of his teams or finish out band competetions. Then he thought about Jazz Band, Drumline, Guitar and Drum lessons. Then he remembered P.E. and the trampoline. Just when I thought he would get super sad he said, "So doe's everyone at school know about my broken arm? and Can I go to school on Monday?" Maybe the attention from friends will help compensate for all the other losses????? It is going to be a tough 6-12 weeks.