Christmas Day

All you need is family right?

Uncle Jordan

I love my brother Jordan. I especially love him at Christmas time. He loves to give to people and make them happy. He is always so sweet to my kids and has helped me out when I've needed babysitting at the last minute. I love his sweet and tender heart.

Roberts Christmas Party

Does this look like crowded, loud, chaos to anyone else? John has an awesome family, but I think it is getting a little too large to fit into his mom's house! I think we had over 50 people crowded in here. You can't really see the back, but there are 2 rows of tables back there. I love his family though and I'm grateful to his mom for organizing the night. Even she had to admit that holding the event in a church next year might be a wise idea :)

I loved Avery's choice for her angel outfit (Sleeping Beauty is an angel right?) She was too cute.

SNOWMAN

My mom got this cool snowman kit for the kids. Poor Carston had been asking me to build one with him for days, and being the lame-o prego that I was, I kept putting him off. Luckily Heather and OB came to the rescue when they babysat. They helped him build this awesome snowman. Thank you guys (and thanks for the pics HO)!

Carston's face in this picture is awesome!

Cookie Decorating

For a cookie exchange I decided to make these cute Santa Hat Sugar Cookies. I was asking myself why I chose something so time consuming, but there is just something fun about making them. I can't help but smile when they are done-kind of like with my pumpkin people. Anyway, I made tons so we could all decorate cookies when my sisters were here. We spent the night decorating and eating. They are the best sugar cookies ever. There was some MarioKart too.



Carston whooping up on Jared

Macy "decorating" her cookie (notice how there isn't much left)!

Grandpa playing MarioKart-91 Years old (he liked playing Golf too for New Year's Eve)!

Olsen Christmas Party

Jenny and Matt were so nice to plan the Olsen Christmas party. It is always fun getting together with family you don't see that often, but it is usually hard for people to take the initiative and plan it. So I'm really grateful to them for doing that. Family is the best, and I'm so lucky to have so much.

Gingerbread Houses

We broke tradition a little this year and made our gingerbread houses from a kit rather than with graham crackers. I liked how meticulous Avery was in placing her candies on. I liked that Grandma was trying to refrain from making Carston put his where her "interior decorating" conscience was wanting them. I loved how Jared and Chelsey's house completely collapsed, but Jared didn't care because the gingerbread man still tasted good. And I liked how Heather kept telling Hallie that "that is the last piece of candy you can eat. If you eat another one then we can't do it anymore." And then Hallie spilled her candy all over the floor. Good times with the fam.

Little Boys

Here's the gang getting ready for some fun in the snow. It was probably at least 7 at night, and FREEZING, but that didn't stop John and Brett and Shane from wanting to play in the snow.

The original plan was to build a snowman, but they couldn't get the snow to pack. So they decided to spend the next couple of hours building a sledding hill instead. Brett had his snowblower out to help pile the snow up, Shane had his spray bottle to get the snow to hold, and all the kids were helping shovel and pat the snow. I seriously love that John is still a kid at heart. My kids would miss out on a lot of fun if they only had their boring mommy :)

Panic

Can I just say how much I HATE the dentist. I had to go on Tuesday to get my temporary crown. I had forgotten that this part was worse than the actual root canal part. I didn't anticipate the shots, the smells, the pain, etc. I was unprepared mentally until the receptionist gave my some sympathetic words which made me start freaking out. I don't think I've ever been closer to experiencing a full-blown panic attack as I was sitting in that chair. There was something about the smell that was almost more than I could handle. And then I started freaking out about not being able to close my mouth. And the dentist wasn't really talking me through what he was doing, so I had no idea if I was going to be there another 2 minutes or another hour. I really was on the verge of freaking out. Luckily singing "Mary had a little lamb" "Give said the little stream" and a bunch of other children's songs helped me maintain my sanity. I was able to control the tears until I was alone in my car. I hate the dentist. Really I do. I hate, hate, hate the dentist.

John

I have the best husband in the whole world.

More Kate

So my sister Heather got the awesome camera she's been coveting forever for Christmas. She took these great pictures (and tons throughout the month she was here). Thanks so much Ho. You're the best. I had to post them right away because she looks so dang cute :)

She's Here!

Kate Leta Roberts was born on January 8th, 2009. She weighed 8 lbs. 11 ozs. and was 20 inches long. Everything went well with the delivery, and we were so grateful for that. Pregnancy is difficult, and when I'm pregnant, I think I never want to do it again. But then Kate was born, and everything instantly became worth it. I know I'd go through much more if I had to, just to bring these sweet children into our lives. Thank you so much to my mom and my sisters for watching my other kids. I really don't know how I would manage without them. I feel so blessed to have so many people in my life who want to help me.

I'm so grateful for the Holy Ghost and his ability to comfort us. My mom took the kids the night before, so John and I were home alone. I was kind of freaking out. I was in a lot of pain from the root canal I'd had that day, my kids were getting sick, and I was just feeling anxious about the delivery and how I would be able to manage all my responsibilities once our baby was born. John gave me a blessing though, and I felt so much more at peace. My circumstances didn't change, but I was strengthened in meeting them.

We did end up coming home to a house full of sick kids (Carston threw up the night we got back from the hospital), so it was crazy trying to keep them all away from Kate, changing my clothes everytime I switched between the baby and the "sick ones." It was kind of like we had two separate families. Kate was locked away in our room, and all the other kids were out in the family room. Now though that everyone is better, life with four kids seems like a breeze. Not really. But it does make me appreciate the difference :)

Come What May and Love It

That was the lesson the last time I went to Relief Society. It keeps coming to my mind today and it makes me laugh. Here's why: I went to the doctor. He told me that I'm dilated to a three, and that I'm as close as possible without being in full blown labor. A few hours later, I went to the dentist (I HATE the dentist, but that is another story). I got the news that I have to have an emergency root canal TOMORROW! I'm scheduled to get induced the day after that. So, I get to have a root canal tomorrow and then go to the hospital and have a baby the next day. Wow. Sounds good. And then to top it all off, Carston started running a fever tonight. All his cousins, whom he hung out with at the cabin, were throwing up or just found out they had strep. So maybe I'll get to come home from the hospital with a newborn baby to a house filled with sick kids. Yeah, things are shaping up quite nicely :) Good thing I have such an amazing family that is here to help me so much. I don't know how I'd manage right now without them. My sisters and my mom have watched my kids so much this last month, and my mom is always providing dinner for us. I'm so grateful for everything they do.