last of the really old iphone pics

What better time to post about Christmas than almost April?

This year the kids decorated the tree and I think they did a great job.  Yep, that side was very ornament-heavy and it made me happy every time I looked at it.

Camille went through another phase of crazy spit-up.  I think I'll never really know what was up with those phases.

So these are all the pics from Marty's phone.  I'm assuming these came up because he was trying to make his brothers jealous!

I know, I know.  I can't believe I'm admitting to this, but I had to breath a sigh of relief when Gabe would sit down for even just a portion of a movie.  Sometimes you just need a few minutes for something or other without being afraid of coming back to find several things broken.

One of our favorite December traditions, the Queen Creek Christmas parade.

You've got to love Santa in a boat and wearing sunglasses.  I love my state.

I can't possibly say how much I loved this evening.  We popped popcorn and all watched the Muppet Christmas Carol.  Life had been out of control, and we took advantage of an evening at home.  Bryce sat with Camille, of course.

These two snuggled.

I kept my hands full, just the way I like them.  Now that I'm writing it down, this all seems as non-eventful as it gets, but it was seriously one of my favorite nights of the Christmas season.  I wonder exactly what it was??

Here's a cool picture of the Mesa Temple in the visitor's center, taken during the 40's an incredibly rare snowstorm.

Again, jealous much?

Total of days in December that Camille wore a coat: One.

One day after dinner, I told Marty this was our last night of the month with nothing scheduled in the evening.  Very spur of the moment, we decided to hop on over to Schnepf Farms to ride the Christmas train.  I love living a mile away from that place!

Besties.

This picture is just here as a place holder, to remember the timeline of Marty's little hospital stay.

And he got home the day before Brynn's birthday (seven!)

Please Brynn, contain your excitement.

I have this thing about dressing up for holidays.  As much as it pains me to admit, I do love to primp.  But I spend 5 or 6 days a week in grubbies, a pony-tail, and mascara only.  So I have fun dressing up for dates with Marty and dressing the whole family up for holidays.

This was the Sunday for Christmas.  The thought of it stresses me out a bit, but I already recorded about it back in the appendicitis post.  It was also Brynn's birthday, a few hefty choir numbers, and Marty stayed home in bed recovering.  I didn't want him to sit up, but I wanted a picture, so we all lined up at the foot of his bed to say cheese!

I love that expression, she looks like a little girl.  Lately she's just looking way too grown-up.

Have a little cupcakes with you food dye, kiddos.

From GandG J Brynn got a princess cookbook and some cooking supplies, and it was just the perfect gift for her.  Here are some of her creations from that week:

Embarrassingly bad pictures from our nativity.  By the way, my parents flew out VERY last minute when we had to cancel our UT trip for Marty's recovery, and I'm so grateful to them for giving up their Christmas at home to spend it with the Johnson's.

Camille starring as Baby Jesus, of course.

Brynn is taking her role as a wise man very seriously and bowing down.

Christmas morning!

Ha!  Marty gets more excited than the kids on Christmas morning. :)  I love, love, love that he is just a kid grown big.  That blurry picture of him makes me melt.  He adds so much enthusiasm to our family.

Brynn's one Christmas request:  earmuffs.  She's never been a kid to ask a lot.  Except when it comes to Grandpa O!  Ha!  She's got his number. :)

Daddy's requested item for many Christmas's now:  a bigger TV.  He finally stopped asking me and just went and bought it!  It's still smaller than most of our friends, I don't know why I've been so opposed to upgrading the TV.

A bike-ride with the boys' new bikes.

Have I mentioned before how Marty and I fight over who gets to nap with Bryce?  You'll never know just how sweet it feels to fall asleep with that kids until you've tried it.  I swear those are the best naps of my life.

For Christmas Bryce got a dinosaur excavation set and Brynn got a mineral one.

Love, love, love.

Marty got an outdoor cooking set thing for Christmas and we have had so much fun roasting marshmallows out on the patio.

I find these two just like this at least once a day.  You'd think I would get used to it, but I melt every. single. time.

She looooves him.

Brynn takes great care of her sister, too.  But she doesn't get to spend as much time with her because of that darn school.

Kris Anne (Marty's sister) came out for the wedding of a friend and was able to spend a night with us.  It was a totally authentic Indian wedding and a really cool experience for the kids.

Brynn and Kris Anne are two peas in a pod and busted some moves on the dance floor with no reservation whatsoever.

So that takes us through January.  The next set of pictures will be up to the present!