the pay off

No gift has ever had a bigger pay off than this face when he opened the nintendo DS from MoM and DaD (thank you Game Stop for the awesome-ness of your used items)!

...and then there was Christmas...

See the controlled (and smiling) AweSOmE big Bro holding tight to the escapee in this shot?

MoM and DaD rocked it this year with plasma cars...and Scooters...

Seriously...do they come any cuter or more fun than this guy?!!
SaNtA didn't do so bad either setting up this 'ol trampoline all by himself. Mrs. Clause was cold and tired in the house getting the rest done.

Phoenetically speaking

I LOVE that he reads at a 3rd grade level and writes...

The Arnetts

I stole this off of facebook

It's my baby brother and his GORGEOUS wife and baby

I think they are AweSOmE!

SaNtA

Gingerbread Houses

After last year I swore I wouldn't ever bake my own again...this year I baked 3. So much for my conviction! Monte Birk took extra special care with his front yard as you can see.

I actually made them wait for Christmas day to eat it all up. Not that some nibbling didn't precede Christmas!

This is why we had 3 houses! Cole cousins and Buehler cousins came and played with us!

Not only was it house decorating time. It's Aunt Karen's Birthday on Christmas Eve too. She doesn't normally get a cake with all the Christmas treats around, you know sharing your bithday celebrations with someone can be a little daunting, so this was kind-of special! CraZySuB sandwiches to boot! Doesn't get any better than that!

I make candle lickin' frosting if I do say so myself!

Family Party

This is The MaN

it's his ParTy

he feEdS us

he keeps the tAleNTs moving along

He TeAcHEs us of CHRIST.

This is Jacks "are you serious?" face

This is Monte and Seth listening to the other's talents

And I just liked these.

above: Karen and Kalena

below: Lanie and Kendall

These are my shepherds. Clyde and Monte

(Seth wasn't into it this year)

For our talents this year Monte Birk played the Piano and Seth and Clyde played their bells and sang. Since time was short this yera mom and dad got out of playing their flutes! Kind-of sad about that but there's always next year!

HaY RiDe/LiGht ParAdE

Our AweSOmE NeiGHboRs have this HUGE trailer that has been parked in front of my house for a couple of weeks now. This trailer has $50. worth of rented hay on it...go figure eh? It's been used for the mutual's annual caroling ride, the Relief Societies progressive dinner, and a Laurel's progressive dinner. I've been on it quite a few times...the kids...NADA...NOTHIN'! It kills them to have it parked right in front of our house! These AweSOmE NeiGHboRs, we like to call them the JuDDs, invited us to join with them in a light parade last Friday evening. So much fun! It was in a 50+ golfing community. The Desert Ridge High marching band led the parade and along side our trailer there were tons of DeCkEd OuT golf carts! AmaZiNg what some lights and color can do to those things!

In an effort to make it extra special I got ambitious and made us all matching PJ's to wear for the guys debut parade!

There was a special rider on our float as well.
By the end there was hay stuck all over our new Jammies. However, there was hot cocoa and cookies too!! Never under estimate cocoa and cookies after an hour and 1/2 parade!

Dad's day of "Hookie"

The boys have been taking turns playing "hookie" from the school the past few weeks. Why not? Every once in a while on a random day when they say, "Mom? Do I have to go to school today?" I tell the "no." It's not like we do anything special really. They unload the dishwasher, fold the laundry, take out the garbage, basically help me with whatever I am doing that day. Well, on Friday (which was a half day of school for the boys) Dad played hookie. It was quiet in the back yard for quite a while and then I found them. Music playing, games going and later, a full on picnic. Of course, I did all of my chores alone but it was such a gorgeous day...who could blame them?!

JuDe

So proud of my BaBy BRoTHeR Stephen.

He and Brindy blessed their little Jude Stephen Arnett the Sunday after the tree cutting extravaganza. It was a lovely day!

AnNuAL TrEe CutTinG

Why, of course the Gardiners are righteous enough to

WaLk on WaTer!

This was probably the ColDeST tree cutting we have ever attended with the Bill Arnett clan...Jr. that is. There may not have been as much snow as past years but that icicle wind hit pretty hard out in the clearings. And you know the BeSt TrEes are in the clearings!

We all felt like we'd "settled" when it came to the trees that we cut because we were all in a hurry to get near the fire or in the cars for shelter from the wind! It turned out, for us at least, that after a bit of pruning, it was the best tree we'd ever gotten!

It was a one day trip. Up in the morning and down in the evening and NO, we did NOT realize that the HeAtER was OuT in our car until we began the long and VeRy ColD drive home. The boys kept on their snow gear and slept soundly for most of the trip. They took mOm and dAd's jackets though, and we were quite chilly as we went over the river and through the woods!

TrUe LoVE!

This is why I LOvE my job.

This is why my LiFe is perfect.

This is what my HusBaND enjoys.

This is why I keep having ChiLDreN.

Each one brings me this much jOy.

DiNNeR

HeAD CoUNt!!

Grandpa &

Bill & Cynthia+5

Robert & Lanie+5

David & Tiffany+6

Shauna & Scott+5

Diane & Monte+4

Karen & Fidalis+2

Stephen & Brindy+1

That's A ToN of SteAK!

I DO have a video clip of everyone doing the camp fire AhTuNuhTeeTah...but I will spare you the joy, or is it pain? of seeing my grown brothers with their, "Thumbs up, shoulders out, knees together, feet apart, bottoms out, tongue out, eyes shut!"

Back at the FiRe PiT

Before we even had a chance to build a fire Jack found his true joy in playing in the soot! You should see the video of he and his cousin Julie together. They were using the fire pit as a sand box and Julie was literally dipping her cookie in the sooty fire pit and eating it! All the while Scott, her dad, laughs in the background. Have we been doing this for too many years that this sort of thing phases none of us?

Seth and Clyde can't get enough of the 4 WhEeLeRS. We'll have to store one of Grandpa's in our garage so they can ride more than once a year! Clyde
SethAnd this is what ToO MuCH soda, salsa, chips, cake, cookies, steak, runing, playing, fire building, cousins and excitement can do to a person by the end of the evening.