Sunday, April 26, 2015

Christmas Festivities...and a few other randoms

Karoline had a special Parent Observation Day for ballet. It was so fun to see what they have been working on and they even had learned a little dance for us. Nicole went all out with gifts and tiny tiaras to wear...
Roman is in full Junior Jazz Basketball season and is loving it. He is always so excited to start playing...we will see how long it lasts!
The Nutcracker with Grammy! It is such a fun tradition to go to dinner and then to Capital Theater for the ballet. Capri was mesmerized and Karoline must have liked it as she was so well behaved the entire time.

 The girls with their new Madame Alexander dolls.
My friends from High School wanted to get together with the kids for a chance to catch up and let the kids play. Everyone came over to my house where we decorated cookies and ate pizza. It was so much fun and I loved spending some time with these lovely ladies...
When it was almost time to go, us moms went upstairs to find the girls all together in the girls room playing dress up and then all the boys in Roman's room with swords and guns. Girls and boys...just love it!
Capri also had a Parent Observation Day and they did a piece from the Party Scene in Nutcracker. Capri loves to dance and she loves ballet...
Our ward held a Christmas Breakfast with food, a small program consisting of the kids singing Christmas carols, and a visit from the big guy himself. I would say it was a success to every child in attendance.
December is always busy and full of family activities-I love every second of it!

Christmas Sunday Best

With Karoline in Capri's old dress, and Clara in a dress both older sisters wore, I was hit with a bit of nostalgia. I just love my kids and wished they would stop growing!


It's that time again!

Time to endure the traditional trip downtown to see the lights at Temple Square. I love this tradition, and though many of my family members don't, they are willing to join in every year. Love them.
This year, however, no one could complain. It was incredibly warm and Temple Square was empty! Now we know to go on a weekday at the beginning of December!
And here is the whole Curtis Clan...

 These girls were thrilled to be running around...some too hot for a coat! The boys were playing and too busy for pictures.

Even Clara was enjoying herself!

The Live Nativity in Bluffdale

I had never done the Live Nativity, but heard such wonderful things and thought we should give it a try. Especially with how weirdly warm it was for December, it seemed like the perfect time to go...and we were right! This nativity is so incredibly popular, many people came only to wait in line for over two hours, and then have to go home. Fortunately, we were there right at 5:00 and it doesn't even start until 6! We knew we would be waiting for the hour so we brought some yummy snacks from Great Harvest. There were lots of animals to watch while we were waiting and the kids couldn't believe that they were seeing a real camel! There were also parts of "Bethlehem" that we could see getting set up.
Funny enough, we were ready and rearing to go as soon as it started and yet the husbands weren't there! They had taken their sweet time, stopping for food on the way no less. Thank goodness they allowed us to sit and wait at the front of the line until they got there.
Anxiously waiting...
 I was a little worried to be managing these kids on my own for an hour in line, but even Clara was a champ and it turned out great.
As soon as we walked through the gate, we watched Mary on the donkey and Joseph by her side begin their walk to Bethlehem. From then on, we were more and more amazed with this nativity. The costumes, the sets, the animals, and every other detail you can think of. When you go in Bethlehem, you feel like you are back in time. Then you come upon Mary and Joseph in the stable and a newborn Jesus in his manger. We all had tears in our eyes! Such an incredible event that so many volunteer for.
The girls in "Bethlehem."

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day was a success! We split the day between the Nielsons and the Curtis' and so we could maximize cousin and family time. We started at the Nielsons and it was just us, Tanner and Drew, Grammy and Grampy, Great Grandma, and our favorite Lexy! After eating an exorbitant amount of food, (Grammy makes amazing stuffing-my favorite!) we hung out, let the kids play with Alfie, and relaxed.





With our tummies still full, we headed to my parent's house for round two! There we ate some more, this time dessert, hung out some more, and put on our annual talent show. Capri showed us her kickover, Karoline did the splits, and we watched video footage of Roman playing tennis. With such booming talent in our family ;), I didn't feel the need to do anything myself. That was, however, until Richard started to sing Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody." I love that song and had to get up to play backup. We are horrible singers. The fact that Cheri filmed us and put it on Facebook kills me a little, but it's all good!
Before everyone left, we promised the kids we would play Hide N Seek. It was so fun to get in on the action. With such a big house and the lights out, it turned into quite the game!
I love that these two escape into Grandma and Grandpa's room to watch a show...sometimes you just need a break from my big loud family!


These boys...nuff said.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

November Randoms

Karoline's Thanksgiving Pow Wow:
Singing songs, trading and buying things from the "market," roasting hot dogs, eating a Thanksgiving Day Feast, and playing in the TeePee. It was an exciting day at school!

Roman's Tennis:
Roman started taking private lessons with Coach Corbin and is doing really well. He loves Corbin and is always happy to go!
 

Primary Program:
I love being in Primary and the Primary Program is the best! I loved hearing my kids at the pulpit and singing my favorite Primary songs. It was Karoline's first time and she was asked about reading scriptures. She said, "I like reading scriptures with my family because we get to hang out." Totally in her own words, I loved it!

Family Pictures

Elizabeth saved us again this year by taking our annual family portrait for Christmas cards. We went up to Neff's Canyon for some beautiful, and freezing, fall pictures...






Halloween...and all the festivities included...

We got home from Europe and had 10 days to pack in as much Halloween as we could...
 I was so happy to be home with this cute bunch!
 Playing outside while waiting to go to the pumpkin patch!


Pumpkin Patch
It's tradition. We have gone to our neighborhood pumpkin patch every year and I don't see us changing our venue anytime soon! The kids love picking out their favorite pumpkins, playing on the haystacks, and visiting the petting zoo. This year was unseasonably warm which made it that much nicer...




Running Scared
Cheri and Cody's triathlon company puts on a Halloween race every year. Tucker thought it would be a great service project for his scouts (and Roman!) to hand out waters along the way. With everyone helping out at the race, I decided to take the girls for a run! Capri and Karoline took turns in Big Red and sometimes I was pushing all three of them.  Let's just say that I did not complete the 10k. The kids loved seeing everyone dressed up and I got a bit of a workout so I think it was worth it!

Karoline's Ballet Halloween Party
I am thrilled to have one of my best friends, Nicole Maughan, as Karoline's ballet teacher. Karoline is so happy to be in her class along with London, Sarah, and Nicole's daughter Naomi. To celebrate Halloween, Nicole let them dress up and they all performed for the parents. So darling!
 The Fabulous Four!
Karoline and Miss Nicole
Ward Halloween Party
Every year, the ward youth puts on a great party for our primary kids. We went with a Frozen theme for the girls and Roman wore his Ninja costume...

 Meet Olaf
Elsa, Olaf and Anna
Karoline's School Halloween Party
South Jordan Montessori's Annual Halloween Parade and Party is always a hit. This year was particularly funny. I have to set the stage for you. Susie goes all out with my kids costumes and let's them pick our whatever they want from the Chasing Fireflies catalogue. These costumes are so extravagant and fabulous that, as my dad put it, "I feel so bad for these other moms!" So, not only is Karoline looking amazing in her butterfly costume, those wings are huge and covering up the other poor kids! My parents were dying laughing as Karoline kept wiping out the boys next to her with her giant, and sparkly, wingspan. It was so fun though and the twins got to join us since they were off track!


Cornbelly's
Cheri, my mom and I all decided to meet at Cornbelly's for the afternoon. It was kind of an ordeal without husbands to help, but the kids had plenty of fun. They loved the corn kernel "beach," the jumpy platforms, the princess stage (Karoline was dancing up a storm!), all of the play equipments, the train ride, and Roman had fun on the tractor bikes...






Halloween!
Halloween was finally here in all its glory. We headed out with our crew including Zorro, Miss Musketeer, our Monarch Butterfly, and what I like to call Halloween Spirit (aka mom not wanting to dress up the little one!). Trick-or-treating in such warm weather was a treat itself and made for tons of candy collecting. I love that everyone congregates at my house after for soup, rolls, and visiting. The kids favorite part of the night? Passing out candy! Karoline and Sarah were cheering/yelling for everyone to come to our door. They all love it!