Christmas Fun

I am so grateful that Santa takes the time to come to our ward Christmas party so that I don't have to fight the crowds with the mall Santa. Sam is very into Santa this year, and sadly Jacob is doing some doubting. He keeps asking how it's possible for reindeer to fly, and how Santa could make it all around the world in just one night. We try our best, telling him it's not actually one night because different parts of the world are on different times, so he actually has two nights. He's not sure Santa could even do it in two nights, but he is not willing to declare his unbelief completely because he does want that DS he asked for. Maybe we can get another year out of it. We love going to Bethlehem Village every year at the Presbyterian Preschool. The kids love the petting zoo, Llama rides and Hot Chocolate. They even do a live nativity and sing Christmas carols.

Jacob looks like he's taking a nap on the Llama, I hate when they close their eyes just as I snap the picture!

Sam loved chasing the sheep and goats, poor guys.

Bound to happen....

A good black eye is bound to happen in a house with three boys, in fact I am surprised it hasn't happened sooner. We are lucky to not have any broken bones, yet. The boys were jumping on our bed on Saturday morning, hitting each other with pillows and trying to knock each other off. Brett told them this wasn't going to end well, and we left the room. Minutes later we heard a loud scream from Jacob, and sure enough, it didn't end well. Carter's head ended up on Jacob's eye leaving a huge goose egg, and now a pretty bad black eye. Poor Jacob is pretty embarrassed by it, he thinks it looks like he's wearing make up.

It's a Girl????

So we went in for our ultrasound today. We decided it would be fun to let Jacob and Carter come because they are so excited about the baby and have been betting on the sex. Jacob was betting boy, Carter wanted a boy, but thought it was a girl. Our ever so obliging (sarcasm) ultrasound tech is 90% sure that it's a girl. She doesn't see any boy parts and she is pretty sure she sees girl parts. I asked if I could move around to get a better picture, no luck, it was probably almost her lunch time. She had no patience for me. I told her I had to know 100%, I have three boys and if I am going to paint the baby room and buy clothes, I need to know. With Sam they couldn't tell for sure so they had me walk around, and then there it was plain as day. She was not willing to do that.

So, we are thinking girl, but with a little caution. I am going to ask my doctor to double check next week when I go in. I am thrilled about having a girl, but honestly I would have been happy with a boy too. In some ways I am sad to think Sam may be my last little boy, I absolutely love little boys. I must admit, however, when Sunshine gave me two darling dresses, I was pretty excited about a baby girl. I love raising little boys, I could raise all boys, but I do want to have a girl when she's grown. A girl always needs her mom, (but then again so do many boys).

We are all pretty excited. Brett wanted a girl, but now he says he's a little scared, the boys think it's going to be pretty cool to have a baby sister. I won't mention that part of the reason Carter was excited about a girl is because he says there will be another girl to shoot with his Nerf guns, he terrorizes the neighborhood girls by shooting them. We'll try to hold him off until she can fight back. Looks like pink is coming to the Wimmer home, I hope we can handle it.

Thanksgiving!

This year we headed to Arizona to spend Thanksgiving with my sister in her new house. I always feel better when one of my siblings moves after I see their house and new surroundings. I like to be able to picture where they are when I think about them. She has such a great house, neighborhood, and area. We had fun swimming in her pool, going out to dinner, playing with cousins and just being together. I've said it before, I just love the cousin relationships. I grew up going to Mesa every summer to visit my cousins, it was truly the highlight of my year. I looked forward to my two weeks in Arizona every year so much, I love seeing my kids get as excited as I did when I was younger. My sister even took us to drive by my cousins old house and see all the fun places we used to go together. I wonder if my kids will someday do the same......

It was pretty cold in Arizona, but that didn't stop the kids from swimming!

Brett getting some sun while Sam throws rocks in the pool.

Cousin bath time

Huddled around an intense DS game

The cousins together on Thanksgiving morning

My sister is an out to eat Thanksgiving girl. We went up to Payson and ate at The Rim Golf Club. They had a big buffet and the kids thought it was fun picking out their food, they especially liked the Shirley Temples they kept ordering.

They were smart to put our group in a private room, we can be a bit noisy.

Sam liked the free toothbrushes in the bathrooms

Golf cart rides around the neighborhood were fun morning and night! Just remember it's not a good idea to send a two year old on a golf cart with a 13 year old driver!

The Mesa Temple does an unbelievable Christmas lights display. The kids loved seeing the lights, watching the Luke II movie, and seeing the Chirstus.
My parents were married in this temple almost 50 years ago. We loved taking our kids there and telling them about when Nana and Grandpa Rex were married.

We truly had a great week, my sister and her husband are the perfect hosts. Our husbands even decided we needed a sister day on Saturday, so they planned a day with the kids and sent us out to lunch and shopping. I am grateful for my wonderful family this and every Thanksgiving!

Chicken is 40!!

One of my dearest friends in the world has hit the big 4-0. She looks fabulous, so I say be proud! I met her 7 1/2 years ago and I have been laughing, eating, and partying it up with her ever since. This is a girl to love, she threw an unbelievable party, filled with friends, food, dancing and singing (thanks to Rock Band).

Many years ago Brett gave her the nick name of Chicken. It started as Chicken Parmigiana, but was soon shortened to Chicken. We all call her Chicken, or The Chicken, even our kids. It was quite funny, or maybe a little inappropriate when she was the Primary President and several of the primary kids called her "Sister Chicken." At least they had the respect to add Sister to it.

We all love The Chicken. Brett loves to tease her because she always falls for it. I like to party with her because she makes everything more fun. I love that she is always willing to help me solve all my problems. My kids love to play at her HUGE house. We are all grateful to have Elizabeth in our lives!

Gotta love the candy bar!

Yes, we made her blow out all 40 candles!

Some of the girls-I think the guys are all singing away! (Except Brett who is chatting it up in the back yard.)

HALLOWEEN!!

Jacob wants to be an animal every year, last year we lucked out with a size 5/6 monkey we were able to squeeze him into. Hard to imagine, but they really only make animal costumes in toddler sizes...hmmm...maybe this should tell us something, most seven year olds don't want to dress up like a chicken, penguin or pig. We settled on a banana this year, at least it's the food of an animal, we'll deal with next year when it comes.

Classic Sam face, how can he be grumpy on Halloween, don't worry he cheered up as soon as people starting filling his bag with candy

Luckily Halloween was on a Friday this year, allowing us to have a fun sleepover with lots of candy eating!

As a side note, my little sister is having a boy. As soon as she told me I thought, oh good now we will have the same thing. I am still pretty sure I am having a boy, it will be great to have a close cousin!

Party it Up!

It was Halloween Party time at the Elementary School yesterday. We started the day off with a parade around the field, followed by Jacob's class party, and then Carter's class party. Sam is absolutely convinced that he is as much a part of his brothers' classes as they are. He is mad if they don't have an extra craft for him, enough treats for him, or a party bag for him. I try to explain he is not a part of the class, but he will hear none of it. Luckily Carter's class only has 15 kids, so there was plenty of everything to go around. I just don't want him to be known as the annoying little brother who tags along and expects everything. Maybe it's already to late for that?

See, Sam even expects a place at the table.

The sack races were a very fun activity for any of you room moms out there!

As a total side note for anyone who is interested, I will know what I am having after tomorrow. No, I don't have my ultra sound tomorrow, but my little sister does, and we are convinced we are having the opposite sex. It would just be to good to be true for us to have a baby at the same time AND have it be the same sex. So, tomorrow afternoon I will know what I am having, whatever Christie is not having.

**The rule for this little game is your response to each question can only be one-word.

1. Where is your cell phone? car
2. Where is your significant other? football
3. Your hair color? hmmmmm
4. Your mother? amazing
5. Your father? greatest
6. Your favorite thing? kids
7. Your dream last night? lots
8. Your dream/goal? kids
9. The room you're in? office
10. Your hobby? kids
11. Your fear? cancer
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? home
13. Where were you last night?home
14. What you're not? musical
15. One of your wish-list items? basement
16. Where you grew up? Mclean/Provo
17. The last thing you did? phone
18. What are you wearing? pants
19. Your TV?Disney
20. Your pet? Lola
21. Your computer? on
22. Your mood? happy
23. Missing someone? Dad
24. Your car? white
25. Something you're not wearing? coat
26. Favorite store? Target
27. Your summer? Family
28. Love someone? Absolutely
29. Your favorite color?Pink
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? weeks

I tag...whoever has the time.

Bad Seed

If any of you think a kid can't be a bad seed, you obviously haven't met Sam Wimmer. I should have known I was in for trouble when he cracked my rib during pregnancy. This kid is always up to trouble, it's amazing. All my boys came from the same genes, have been raised the same, and loved the same. So why is it that Sam is such a trouble maker? I was enjoying a rare quiet moment downstairs while Sam was quietly playing with his friend Jack upstairs, or so I thought. I decided to take the opportunity to clean my kitchen, forgetting for a minute that with Sam quiet=disaster. By the time I went upstairs I found Sam and Jack, hands full of markers, busily coloring the bunk beds. I screamed, these were not washable markers, and started looking around. I soon realized they had colored the entire computer screen and keyboard, the upstairs banister, the entire bunk bed, two dressers (including my new one), and the train table. I know Jack was a fairly innocent partner in crime, I am sure he was just following Sam.

Look at his face, does he look sorry? No! When I was telling him he was never allowed to use markers for the rest of his life, he just looked at Jack, laughed and said, " I in trouble Jackie!" That kid. We always say, it's a good thing he's so cute.

After cleaning up the best I could, I found the two little trouble makers reading together. They go do something sweet like this, making it impossible for me to stay mad.
As long as I am giving grievances about Sam, he is also the worlds biggest complainer. Brett and I always say if there was a complaining contest, Sam would win! I am always doing something wrong, putting the wrong clothes on him, giving him the wrong color cereal bowl, not giving him the correct treat, not putting his covers on correctly, putting away a toy that he suddenly wants...the list goes on and on. So if anyone knows of a contest, let me know, Sam could win some money.

Better go, he just found the paper plates and has decided to throw them all over the place........

UTAH!

There are a few things I really miss about living in Utah. The first, of course, is family. The second would have to be fall and spring, we just don't get seasons in San Diego the way we do in Utah. I love the leaves, the colors on the mountains, the crisp feel of the air, and BYU football. All these things say fall to me, and this year I am glad I got to be a part of autumn in Utah. My dad was the honored founder at BYU Homecoming week, which is what brought us to Utah. Sam and I flew up on Sunday and celebrated an early 70th birthday for my mom. All seven of us, plus in town spouses, took her out to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for dinner on Monday night. My mom hates when I say she's almost 70, but I think she should be proud. She looks awesome, if I look half that good when I am 70 I will be one happy woman. It was really nice going out to dinner with all of us to celebrate my mom. We all went around the table and told her what we love most about her. It was a bit emotional, I must say. The first of a very emotional week.

At the Joseph Smith Memorial Building

Tuesday we headed down to Provo for the devotional honoring my dad. I don't know what I expected, but I am sure I didn't expect it to be as difficult and emotional as it was. We walked into the Marriot Center through the tunnels we used so many times with my dad. We walked down on to the floor just as we had so many times with my dad. Only this time, he wasn't there with us. When we walked in the band was playing, I could picture my dad standing up there leading the band pretending he knew what he was doing. He loved to lead the band at games, he got a real kick out of it. I started crying pretty much right away and didn't stop. BYU was such a part of my life growing up, especially from sixth grade through my sophomore year at BYU while my dad was the President. I can't even count how many devotionals, firesides, luncheons, performances, games etc...I went to at BYU. It was our second home. I even had my 16th birthday party at the President's room and my wedding reception at the Art Museum. My dad loved BYU with a passion, and he passed that on to us. He is a part of BYU, and it's hard to be there and not have him there. They did an amazing film about him at the end of the devotional, we were all crying so hard. In part of it they even played his voice as part of a talk he gave at BYU, it was so hard to hear. I just miss him so much.

You can't see this very well, but it says Honoring the Life of President Rex E. Lee

The seven of us with Mom at the Marriot Center,we all look a little thrashed-there was a lot of crying going on

Wednesday Brett drove up with Jacob and Carter. We spent the night on Wednesday at Eric and Laurie's and entertained the kids at Kangaroo Zoo on Thursday. It was great to be able to talk to Laurie while the kids had fun. I am reminded all the time how lucky I am to have a sister in law who is also one of my best friends (plus she likes good teen trash TV, that's not easy to find!) I just love her! The kids have so much fun together, I love watching them.



Thursday night was the BYU spectacular. I remember being forced to go to these when I was younger. Watching all the BYU performing groups was not really my idea of a fun Friday night at 14. I appreciated it more this time, especially when they showed a movie clip of my dad singing some Spanish song with the Lamanite Generation in Germany. It was just so his personality. That is one of the things I loved most about my dad, he was a serious lawyer, arguing cases in the Supreme Court, but he was really just a small town boy with a good sense of humor who liked to have fun. The spectacular was hosted by Lavell Edwards, a good friend of my dads, and he added a lot of good commentary and memories of my dad. They showed the movie of my dad at the spectacular, bringing tears again. Brett opted out of the spectacular to attend a Timpview/Orem High football game with his brothers (imagine that). He sat on the Orem side (traitor) to support his nephew Morgan. He cheered for Morgan, but was still secretly glad when Timpview won (at least we know his loyalties are in the right place)!

Friday Nana took the kids to Cornbellies, a fall carnival at Thanksgiving Point, and then she took the whole family to Boondocks. It was a long day, but one of the kids favorite. What could be better than playing all day and night with cousins?

There is something so sweet to me about a seventeen year old boy playing with his five year old cousin. The older cousins had to drive the younger ones in the go carts at Boondocks. I just love cousins so much! We are lucky to have great ones on both sides!

Saturday morning we headed down to Provo again for the parade and game. I think it's every kids dream to get to be in a parade, my kids thought it was pretty cool. We weren't sure why anyone would want to get up early on a freezing cold Saturday to watch random people in floats, but apparently people did.

After the parade we had a few hours to spend with the Wimmers before the game. We hung out at Brett's dad's house, even though he and Pat are in London, and had pizza with everyone. Suzanne made cupcakes so we could celebrate Brian and Cameron's birthdays. Eric of course took the opportunity to put Jacob's face in the cake. It never ceases to be funny. Carter called Papa to tell him what Eric had done, and Papa said Eric would definitely be grounded. We love hanging with the Wimmer family, it's always all kinds of fun. Laurie took Sam for us so that we could enjoy the game with the older boys.

It was supposed to snow or rain and be freezing at the game, so we bundled the boys up in their snow clothes, and Brett and I wore thermals and big coats. We lucked out big time on the weather, it was perfect. It felt just how a football game should feel, cold but not unbearable. BYU won, which was great. Jacob was totally into the game, discussing plays with Brett and asking tons of questions. Our friend Jon asked if Brett had to wipe a tear of joy from his eyes as he enjoyed the game with Jacob. I would have to say yes, it brought Brett all kinds of joy. It was great to be at Lavell Edwards stadium with the boys to enjoy a football game. Oh how I miss going to the games, I wish we could make it to Provo more often during football season.

Here is what we woke up to at Eric and Laurie's on Sunday morning. Gratefully the snow decided to wait and come late Saturday night instead of during the game. The kids loved getting to see the snow before we headed home.

Sorry for the marathon post. It was such a fun, emotional and nostalgic week for me. It is one I will never forget, and I hope my kids will remember it too.