Starry Snow Night

There have been several events around town where they truck in snow for all the desert kids to play in. We went to one at the AFB called Starry Snow Night. They brought in 15 tons of snow. They used bales of hay to make two play areas. One for kids under 8 and one for kids over 8.

Ashlyn was so excited as she has never experienced snow before. She kept talking about how she was going to make snow angels. The above photo is her initial reaction. She said, "It's COLD"! There were a ton of kids and between the fact that it was melting and kids were tramping all over it quickly turned into a hard mound of snow. Ashlyn kept trying to eat the snow. Yuck!!! Landon did not want anything to do with the snow.

Notice the palm trees in the background? Snow and palm trees? They just don't belong together! Gavin misses playing in the snow so he was pumped! He did not appreciate the no throwing of snow rule. He got in trouble a couple of times for throwing it anyways. I felt bad for the lady that had to try and keep the kids from throwing it!

Landon's Stats

Landon had a well baby check up yesterday. Here are his current stats:

Weight: 27 lbs. 8 oz. 50-75%

Height: 35 inches 97%

Head: 52 cm off the charts

One of Landon's quirks is that he HATES to be touched by strangers. If he initiates contact that is fine, though it doesn't happen often. This quirk always makes doctors visits fun! The doctor commented on how strong he is. :) My arms are the strongest they have ever been thanks to him.

He recently learned a valuable lesson. Wait for the garage door to finish opening before charging full speed ahead. He clocked himself once and now runs out full blast, stops half way and watches the door until it is all the way open, before proceeding. Falling off the table must not be too bad for him cause he still gets on it daily despite repeated falls.

We also discovered a little miracle of a machine while we were in Vegas for Thanksgiving. My sister had a soothing sounds/white noise machine. We used it for him while he napped to block out the noise of the other kids. And it worked wonders!!! I immediately ran out a bought one for him. Best 20 dollars I have spent in some time! It has made nap time a breeze. Gavin loves it too. He has told me several times when he wakes up in the morning how well he slept. Now Whitney and Chris are both saying they need one.

Santa's Surprise Visit

Saturday Santa made a surprise visit to our ward's Christmas party. Here is Landon looking a little unsure about old Santa Claus.

And this is him when placed on Santa's lap. Chris and I are cruel parents because we find this reaction more funny than sad.

Ashlyn was delighted to visit with Santa. She got right down to business. She is rubbing her hands together in anticipation of all those gifts.

Chris is extra cruel because he forced Gavin and Whitney to sit on Santa's knee by telling them kids who don't visit with Santa do not get any presents for Christmas. Santa was on the short side so Gavin looks extra big on his knee.

Whitney was bright red with embarrassment and couldn't stop giggling.

Thanksgiving Weekend 2010

The little kids table. I think Ashlyn, Zoee, Rocky and Zaylee ate a whole loaf of bread dabbed in olive oil and herbs all by themselves.

This year's Thanksgiving was very special for me. I had not shared a Thanksgiving meal with my parents of siblings since 1995. We traveled to Las Vegas where my siblings shared their homes with all six of us Weavers. It was a bit of tight squeeze but totally worth it! I had never traveled over Thanksgiving weekend before. I now know for myself that it is indeed the busiest travel days of the year! Every time we stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom we had to wait in a long line. We were all excited to use the newly opened Hoover Dam Bypass but you can't even tell you are on a bridge or see anything. Gavin, in particular, was very disappointed. It did shave a good half hour off our trip though which was a major plus!

Chris was contending for the Best Husband of the Year while we were in Vegas. He thought to take this photo for me all by himself. Watched all 8 kids so the sisters could go out to lunch. And did a large portion of the cooking.

Me with Zoee and Ashlyn at the park.

All the cousins. Heidi, Chris and I took all 8 kiddos to see Tangled. It was a cute movie!

Hollee and Chris putting their culinary skills to work. Hollee makes the best pie crusts and baked up 12 pies!

Chris had the great idea to let the kids decorate our plastic tablecloths. They love doing it too!

The cousins did a early Christmas gift exchange. Rocky got this Hot Wheels toy and Landon wanted it! I think Santa will be bringing him one of his own come Christmas. :)

Landon was working on another ear infection and all he ate/drank was some of Chris's sludge (punch). All the kids were high on sugar after drinking many cupfuls.

Chris and Carlos showing off.

Ashlyn, Zaylee and Whitney working their top model poses.

Grey Wolves

While Whitney was playing soccer, Gavin was playing baseball. Their games were usually at the same time in different locations. Chris and I took turns going to their games. Saturday mornings were busy to say the least!

Gavin's team was the Grey Wolves. His coach, Marc Somerset was awesome! This was Gavin's first season where a player was actually pitching instead of the pitching machine. Gavin has always been slow to warm up to new things.

Gavin takes after his Mom and struggles with anxiety. His pitching coach said he had never seen a kid over think something so much. Is it possible to want something too much? I found myself wondering about that a lot throughout the season. He wanted so badly to do well. More often than not when he would get up to bat he would get extremely nervous and anxious. It was really painful & hard for me to watch him struggle with this problem. I know it is something that he needs to learn to cope with though. His coach gave him the Churchill award for never giving up. I am so proud of him for continuing to try his best!

Purple Pain

Back row:Jessica, Madison, Whitney, Shannan, Addi, Staci

Front row: Abby, Sarah, Claiborne, Tori, Anna, Morgan

Whitney recently finished her first season of AYSO soccer. In the past she has always played on co-ed teams so this was her first all girls team. The team name was between Grape Soda and Purple Pain. Whitney wanted it to be Grape Soda but more of her team mates voted for a more kick butt team name. She had an awesome season and was a high scorer for her team. She does best at the forward position. Coach Deb's main priority was not winning. This was something Chris had a hard time swallowing. Coach Deb did not care for Chris's use of bribery to encourage the scoring of goals or his instructions yelled from the sidelines. So I guess they were evenly disgruntled. ;) They ended the season with one tie and the rest losses. Wit's BFF Tori really wanted to play soccer but with her Dad deployed to Afghanistan her Mom's work schedule did not permit her to always be available for games. We asked that they be put on the same team so that we could help her out. It worked out great because she would usually take them to practices and we would do games.

Whitney, Tori & Shannan

Whitney was super excited to play on a team with her best school friend (Tori) and her best church friend (Shannan)!

Some actions shots.



Lucky #13!!!

Feel the PAIN! PURPLE PAIN!

Some crafty Mom made this cute team sign.

Warming the bench with Shannan.

18 Months Old

Landon is 18 months old!!! The best part of reaching this milestone is that he can now go to nursery at church!!! This Sunday will be his first official day of nursery. Chris and I have been anxiously counting down the days for some time now. Every Sunday as I chase him through the halls at least several people ask me this question, "Isn't he old enough for nursery yet??!" The ward will probably throw a party of celebration for us. ;)

Landon's Favorite Things:

1. frozen blueberries

2. trains

3. flashlights

4. Handy Manny

5. hairbrushes

6. toothbrushes

7. Whitney's room

8. swings

9. baby dolls

10. dirt

He loves Ashlyn's doll stroller. He loves pushing it around and he loves sitting in it just as much. He is 29 pounds now and has already broken two doll strollers by sitting in them. Ashlyn often fondly reminisces on his newborn days when he was small and snuggly.


Wearing Daddy's beret.

He still loves making beautiful music with Whitney.

He is up to 9 teeth now. I can feel several that are getting close but haven't cut through yet.

He is loving Ashlyn's dolls lately.

Ashlyn has been really good about sharing her babies with him too!

This is his mad face.

Last Saturday I put this sweater on him and he HATED it! He kept trying to get it off and whining. Gavin also hated sweaters around this age and refused to wear them. But he loves dirt! If there is dirt to be found he will find it and make a mess of himself.

Whenever Chris or the kids leave the house he races for this window and watches them until they are out of sight saying bye-bye the whole time.