"Honey, do you think you have enough room for the angel?"

Usually, we go and cut our tree down from a tree farm. Last year, we just bought one from a tree lot.  It wasn't as cool.  So, this year we went back to the tree farms. I'm sure Garrett would rather get it from a lot.  I'm sure it's much easier on him. 

Looking for the perfect tree...

Found it!  Garrett likes to pick the biggest, tallest tree that he can find--so big and beautiful, but we always end up cutting a lot off so that we can fit it in our house.

Noah LOVES to be outside, so he was having a great time!

Maggie was trying to catch up with Garrett so that she could help carry the tree.  But, she couldn't ever get caught up.

Getting the tree home was quite the adventure.  First off, we have a perfectly good truck that we could use, but it doesn't fit all 7 of us.  So, we took our suburban.  Second of all, we forgot to bring rope.  Oops!  Luckily, the lady had something we could use.  Something thin and not super strong, but something nonetheless.  Third, this tree was massive--and really heavy.  Garrett had to get another guy to help him get it up on our car, and even with his help, they had a heck of a time.  Once we got it on, Garrett tried to tie it with the thin plastic rope as best he could.  But, Garrett didn't feel that it was secured enough, so the whole ride home, he hung on to the tree through our moonroof.  He froze his arm off.  I had to take a picture though, because I thought it was hilarious.  He cussed the whole way home about not being able to use his truck...and how "next time we're leaving someone home".  Ha ha ha! 

The tree ended up being almost 12 feet tall, so we had to get it down to 8 1/2 feet, so we could have room for our angel.  We (I should say Garrett, since he does all the work) also had a heck of a time getting it to stand up straight in the tree stand.  It kept leaning off to one side, so Garrett had to stick some pieces of wood down the sides of the tree stand, so that it would stand up somewhat straight.  It still leans a bit, so we tethered the tree to the wall, just in case it tried to tip over.

Noah helping daddy with the lights. 

Everytime I decorate a tree, I can't help but think, "SQUIRREL!"

Taking an eggnog break

Isn't he adorable?

Decorating the tree...normally we have all red lights, but this year I was wanting to do white.  But, I didn't have enough white lights.  So, we went with red and white.  I really like the way it turned out!

Noah helping decorate the tree.  That first night, he kept trying to take all the ornaments off, but after telling him not to touch it anymore...he really hasn't touched it since.  Thank heavens. 

The beautiful finished product!

Christmas Vacation

So, we spent Christmas vacation in Wellsville, Utah at my parents house with all of my siblings and their families. There were 28 people there, so it was crazy and fun. There's no way that I can post all the pictures, so I thought I'd just do a few highlights.

This is the dorm room where some of the kids slept. Mostly the kids that were from ages 5-12 slept here. The younger kids slept in with their parents.

We took our wii to play and we also brought the "Just dance" game that we got for Christmas. It was quite the big hit. All of the kids participated...

and the adults danced, too
even little Cora who is only two got into the dancing. She's so cute!
My brother Tad and his wife, Solviej had a dance off!

this is my brother Tad with his sweet little girl, Iris.

My sister Tiff and her husband Brooks

This is everyone in the kitchen eating Christmas Dinner

All the kids waiting to open presents...

Bella, loving her Raggedy Ann doll that Aunt Charee got for her

This is my sister Megan and my parents. Megan painted these pictures of each of my grandmas. They were spectacular. It was the highlight of Christmas.

My sister Charee, sister Tiffany, sister Megan, brother Tad and me

We had a white elephant gift exchange and this is my brother opening his gift.

It was a bunch of naked barbies!! Priceless!

We brought the gift...but I had to explain the story behind it. Before we left for Utah, Paige was trying to find presents to wrap up to give to grandma and grandpa. In the past, we have taken some of our used toys that we didn't need anymore and took them to grandma and grandpas house to put in their playroom for when the kids come to visit. So, she decided to take some of her old barbies and wrap them up as grandma and grandpa's gift. She had them open them before everyone got to Utah. So, when my dad opened up this box of naked barbies, it was quite the shock, because he wasn't expecting it. His reaction was so funny, that we thought it would be a hilarious white elephant gift...as long as they left the barbies at my parents house and Paige didn't know about it. So, sure enough, my brother got the barbies and his reaction was as hilarious as my dad's.

My mom and dad

On December 27th, we headed down to Salt Lake to walk around Temple Square and see the Christmas lights. This is Noah all bundled up in the stroller.

Me and my kiddoes

A beautiful shot of the temple...

Part of the gang...we kind of got split up.

My siblings...I was off feeding Noah.

My brother Tad, his wife Solviej and their kids Iris, Micah and Mailei (hiding behind Micah)

My sister Charee and her husband Paul

On the 29th, my mom helped the kids make gingerbread houses. The older kids were the helpers. John, Grandma, Maggie, Hayden, Emily and Rachel

The girls made one house...

Bella, Mailei, Emily, Maggie, Paige and Rachel

and the boys made another one...

John, Grant, Hayden and Micah
Before the snow hit, me, Garrett, Tiff, Megs, Charee and Paul went to the movies to see, "The Tourist" with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp.  It was ok. 

This is my parents house in the snow...half of the people went "tubing" that night with my cousin Tyler.

Lydia having fun in the snow, despite the cold...love the rosy cheeks

Hayden, Maggie and Emily

The next day, the 30th my mom had some Christmas crafts for the kids to work on. This is Cora and Bella

Rachel, Paige, Mailei, Emily, Lydia, Grant and Micah
Tad and Solviej took Iris to the ER because her face was swollen and covered in red and purple welts.  I guess she had an allergic reaction to some antibiotics that she was taking.  I think she had to stay overnight.  Poor thing.  Bella was developing a cough that eventually turned into croup.  Ugh!

Later that afternoon, Garrett took us out to go shooting.

My little sister Megan, 8 months pregnant giving it a try. Her husband Steve is behind her.

Charee, shooting a shotgun that belonged to my grandpa Hansen

Me

Garrett and I

Tad

Tiffany
That night, my mom made dinner for the Simper side of the family.  So, Alan and Julie, Tysha and her family and Tyler and his family came.  We had ham, potatoes, and green bean casserole for dinner.  My mom was pretty upset that we all took off shooting and didn't get back until they were about to show up.  She thought we would be back to help with dinner and help clean some.  Oops!  That night we watched "Robin Hood".  Bella had a rough night!

On the 31st, some people went to a place called "Hardware Ranch" where you could take a little hay ride out to a pasture of elk and feed them. This is Charee, my dad, Megs, Tad and his daughter Mailei. We didn't go because Garrett had to take Bella in to a doctor because she had croup. My sister in law Solviej and her baby Iris, had to be in the hospital for two days because Iris had an allergic reaction to some antibiotics that she was taking for an ear infection. She had the awful purple welts all over her body and her face and her eyes were swollen shut. On top of that, they discovered that she had pneumonia. Poor girl...and poor Solviej.

Steve, their little boy Colin and Megan out to feed the elk.
While Garrett was at the doctor with Bella, I was trying to find a baptism jumpsuit for Lydia.  We also stopped at Costa Vida for lunch.

These are all the cousins, minus Iris.

This is my whole family.

This is my whole family again...except if you notice my brother...he was so sick of taking pictures that he started making goofy faces. He's a nut!
For dinner, we had hoagies and crab.  Then we played Bingo and an 80's game--Name that Tune.  It was fun.
And last of all...my handsome little guy.

Well, I guess this turned out to be more than I had intended, but nothing compared to the number of pictures that all of us combined, took.