Christmas outfits

My mom got the kids their Sunday Christmas outfits, I made some bows to match the girls dress's and we just happened to bring the perfect tie for Kaleb's out fit. We didn't get a chance to take pictures before church, the kids were very tired and hungry by the time we got home,we struggled with getting the kids to coroporate with us it took us a few shots before...... we got this one, I think it turned out really cute and the kids were thrilled that we finally got a good one so they could go run a muck!!

Sledding, sledding and more sledding!!

The kids were going a little stir crazy today so we decided to take them sledding. Ethan went out and scouted some nice hills for us, then we pack a thermos with some hot coco and went sledding for over 2 hrs! The kids were so exhausted when we were done but they had tons of fun!

Uncle Ethan and Ryne, she was holding the ropes like reins and yelling "faster, faster!" Dane and Kaleb, Kaleb was singing Jingle Bells all the way down the hill it was classic!Me and Ryne were racing Kaleb and Dana, Ryne and I almost hit Ethan coming down, it was cold and we were so tired by the end but it was soo much fun!!
The night before we left to come to Idaho Dana went out to get an air filter for the car and he came home with these little guys, we had talked about getting Hershey a little companion when Dane was leaving Wal-Mart there was a gal that was giving these little guys away, there were 11 in the litter and the gal just couldn't take care of them all so she sadly gave them up. Dane couldn't just stop at one! They are male chihuahua jack Russel terrier mix, the are adorable although we are struggling with potty training and teaching Kaleb to play nice but,they are a joy to have around, the kids just love them and so does Hershey.

Kaleb loves them a little too much and doesn't really realize he hurts them, like when he put the little black puppy down in my parents air vent!!Don't worry the puppy is fine, he was just a little shaken up, Kaleb on the other hand was in time out for a long while!!

Out with the Old in with the New!

Lamps Happenings in 2009


January- Marryne turned 4 and started pre-school. We welcomed another healthy baby girl Eleanor "Ellie" Grace Lamps to our family on the 30th.
February- Ellie was blessed and Heather's sister and her family from Japan were able to be there!
Dana started loosing weight, he started at 385lbs.
March- We celebrated Kaleb's 3rd birthday.
April- Heather celebrated her 27th birthday with friends.
May- Ryne "graduated" from pre-school and the summer began!
June- Ellie was admitted into the hospital do to dehydration, but she recovered quickly and was able to go home after 3 days of being in the hospital.
July- We celebrated the 4th by going to the lake and then to fire works at the local high school.
August- Ryne started another year of pre-school, she is looking forward to kindergarten next year!
September- Kaleb was excited to start pre-school, he loves his teachers and he has made a lot of new friends!
October- Heather was in charge of our Ward Halloween party, although it was stressful at times, there was a great turn out! Ryne was super girl, Kaleb was superman, Ellie was a lady bug, Dana was a Jedi and Heather was a medieval Lady.
November- It was just us this year for Thanksgiving but it was very enjoyable, the kids loved watching the Macy's Day Parade, Ryne especially loved the Rockets she has decided that she wants to be one when she grows up!
December- We traveled to Idaho for Christmas, on the way up our car broke down just outside of Cedar City, it was quite an adventure but we were able to make it to Idaho safely and we had a FANTASTIC Christmas!
Dana is down to 260lbs, and still going!!

This year has brought us many challenges but in the end we have truly been blessed. We have learned so much this past year(mostly do to trial and error!). , we have grown so much a s a family this last year,we know this new year will bring many new challenges for our family, but we know that they will only make us stronger. We hope you all have a wonderful New Year, and God Bless!!

No place like home for the Holidays!

Us in our traditional Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve, this is the first year Dana and I have had ones that match the kids, the kids loved it!
The kids loved jumping on the bed singing 'Tis Christmas Eve, I think it was the highlight of their evening!

Ellie even got into it!
Christmas morning, all lined up and ready to see what Santa brought! (don't I just look thrilled!)
Kaleb was the first to find his Santa stuff, he actually noticed the chocolate first and then the toys!
Ryne loved her tea set and Care Bear that Santa brought! The Care Bear was one of the things she asked Santa to bring and she was just thrilled!

Ellie with her Santa stuff, I think she could feel all the excitement and it caught on!
After we were done with presents and our traditional "Christmas breakfast" we got on all of our snow stuff and went outside to test out the sleds Santa brought! Since my parents really don't have any really good hills close by we tied the sleds to the back of my brothers car and he drove us around my parents property it was a blast!! Kaleb is sitting on my lap he was so COLD so he tucked his head under!
I took this pic of Dane while I was next to him, I almost fell out of my sled!
Ryne and Kaleb having a blast! Kaleb kept turning around while we were pulling the sled, we thought for sure he would fall out but surprisingly he didn't!
Ryne's very first snow angel!

We had so much fun yesterday and today! This really has been the best Christmas ever and not because of all the presents, but because of all the family that we had surrounding us! I am so grateful to my Father in Heaven and his son Jesus Christ for the sacrifices they made, so that I could spend this day with my family, so I say to them thank you. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.

FAMILY PICTURES!!

It's only taken us a year(well almost)but we finally got some new family pictures with Ellie in them! Our fabulous friend Katie May was gracious enough to take some pictures for us, there are so many but here are a few of our favorites:









Didn't she just do a great job!? We are so thankful to her for taking the time away from her to take pictures of ours thanks Katie!

What an adventure!

We started our long drive to Idaho Friday morning at 5! We made it to Mesquite by 1p.m. which was really nice, the kids got to stretch their legs and get out some energy, Dana and Ellie got to sleep and I got to clean out and re-organize the car (which let me tell ya was tons of fun!). We had a nice dinner and were in bed by 7 we got up by 4 and were on our way again, we had just past Cedar City and were about 30 miles from Beaver when Du Du dun dun DA! our car broke down!! We sat on the side of the road for about and hr waiting for a tow, my brother hopped in his car and started the 5 hr trek to come get us. Ryne and Kaleb were in aw of the tow truck driving because he was wearing a cow bow hat, they were so happy to have met " a real life cowboy.", the driver got a kick out of Kaleb when he looked out the window and pointing to the mountains exclaimed "LOOK AND ISLAND and ISLAND, where's the water!?"

We got to spend some quality time together in Cedar City which is a really nice little town, the kids got a kick out of all the decorations they had up and the Christmas music blasting in the streets. Marryne was the first to learn that you can't run on ice without falling and hurting yourself and Kaleb learned as he fell in a snow drift(without proper snow gear) that snow is COLD!!! Ethan got to us around 4 and we started the 5 hr ride back to my parents we got there around midnight. We were happy to finally make it to grandma's safe and sound.

We are a little frustrated with the place with left our car so it looks like we are going to have it taken somewhere else. We asked the auto shop to flush the transmission and put new fluid in to see if that is the problem (cause we had the same problem with a previous car and that was all it needed),but they refuse to do and it and they $2800 to fix the transmission, yeah that's not gonna happen! My brother is going to drive down with a friend and make sure the new people we take it too will do what we want and all that jazz, and if he goes he has to go Wednesday and he will miss Christmas with us (which really sucks, but he doesn't seem to mind) don't I just have the best, greatest brother EVER!? I think so!

We went to my moms ward yesterday and it was so great getting to see some old friendly faces, I couldn't walk down the hall without getting a hug and a "it's so wonderful to see you" oh how great it is to be home! Marryne had he teacher bring her to me because they weren't saying her name right! They kept asking her what it was and she kept telling them but " they just didn't get it" so she was perturbed and didn't want to stay with them! Kaleb fell asleep during sacrament meeting and he slept all through Sunday school and didn't go to nursery to the very end, but when he did he had a great time and got a candy cane. Today my mom and I finished up the Christmas shopping and had a nice lunch together it was wonderful. Her dollar store is twice as big as ours at home and it was so organized I was seriously impressed, but I was more impressed with all the ribbon they had, grosgrain, silk, sheer and man they had so many colors! I was in heaven, we ended up buying $20 worth of ribbon and then we found some cute embellishments to go with the bows after we left my mom told me "Merry Christmas!" I was so happy what a great Christmas present and I got it early so I can make some cute bows to match some of the outfits I know they are getting!! So tomorrow my mom is working and I am going to get started on the family Christmas jammies (yeah I never got to them), hopefully I can get them done in a couple of days, Wednesday we are planning on going to Salt Lake to see the Christmas lights! When I can I will download the pictures of all our adventures!

Say a prayer

I don't know this family personally, but my heart and prayers are with them in this their time of sorrow. I read about this family from The story of a Princess and her hair if you want to know more visit her site.Please take the time to add this family to your prayers.

The mood

Why is it that when I have all the time in the world I am crafting, sewing, and bow making but when I have to I just can't? Last night I was watching an old re-run of Everybody loves Raymond (while painting Christmas ornaments), it was the episode were Ray is trying to get Debra in the "mood" if ya know what I mean(*wink* wink*) and found the episode quite funny cause it really is the truth! I got to thinking I have to be in the "mood" to sew, or craft I can't just do it unless I "feeling it" or if I have to out of necessity. I have known about our Idaho trip for months, and I pulled out everything I wanted (and needed) to sew ,patterns, fabric and that's pretty much as far as I have gotten the trip is now 1 week away and I have done nothing in the way of sewing, sure the girls has some really cute hair bows now, and we have some adorable salt dough ornaments to give away as gifts, and I think the skirts I made for our family pictures are super cute, but I have no Christmas dresses for the girls, or bathrobes for the older kids, let a lone the Christmas jammies I need to make for the whole family. Next week is going to be crazy busy with packing and attempting to keep my house clean, and the kids Winter Festival parties they are having at school, that I am going to have next to no time to get any of my sewing done! And I just want to point out that I am NOT complaining cause really I did it to myself had I not procrastinated and done it months ago then I would not be in this tight spot, I am just pointing out my flaw and hoping that by doing so I will change my ways which is not likely cause I say that every time I find myself in this kind of situation, but I will definitely try, now that the world knows I procrastinate!

Dana isn't working tomorrow so I figure if I can pawn the older kids off on him while Ellie is asleep I can get the sewing done, that is if I can get everything cut out today! Now while Ellie is asleep I am going to go finish up the rest of the laundry, clean my bathrooms and hopefully get the patterns cut out. I know once I am up in Idaho I can relax a little especially if I get most of my work done down here then I won't have to take it with me!

Cookies or Christmas Ornaments!?

Aren't these totally AWESOME!? I think so. The kids classes are putting together Christmas baskets that are going to be auctioned off at their Winter Festival, the pre-school basket theme is "Trim your Tree". We were going to go to the Dollar store and pick out some stuff, but I was dragging my feet! I decided to check out some of the craft blogs that I follow and I found these Salt Dough Ornaments over at Little Miss Crafty Pants, I had all the stuff to make them so I gave it a shot and thought they turned out "oh so very cute!".

Don't they look good enough to eat?If you want to get the recipe for these bad boys click here Little Miss Crafty Pants.

Ellie's new toy!

I often ask myself why do I buy toys for my kids? Really they can entertain themselves anything can be a toy especially for a young baby like Ellie who is fascinated by pretty much anything.

This is Ellie's new fascination. Apparently it makes a really cool "twanging" noise that is oodles of fun!

She will play with it for hours if I let her. She's also discovered that she can open and close the door with it, which is a total delight!And the best part is I always know where she is because of the "twanging" noise!

I am thinking of mounting one to a block of wood, that way she can take it with her! Although I think the noise would get on my nerves after awhile!

Rainy days

Since it was over cast and rainy today I decided to take it as an invitation to be lounge around in my pajama's and be lazy, the kids really enjoyed this since it next to never happens, we all stayed in our jammies grab some blankets, and some hot cocoa and had a Christmas movie marathon it was great! Even though I love the rain we are receiving, I am bummed that it has to rain the week we are to get our outside pictures done!

Saturday we decided to give Ellie her first pickle, I grabbed my camera figuring she was going to give me a "sour" face but instead I got a"Mmmm" and this....

Yup that's right she LOVED the pickle, I didn't even get a little bit of "sour" face out of her, and look at her gnaw on that thing!After the pickle we decided to give her a little bit of Mac and Cheese since she kept starin at the kids and makin funny noises, and of course she LOVED that as well she was shoveling it in her mouth so darn fast! I just can't believe how big she is already, she will be 1 next month, it's just so hard to believe. Dana grew up with the German tradition of St. Nicholas day (6th of December), where the kids leave their shoes out at night and then St. Nicholas fills them with candy and toys. Sunday was St. Nicholas day, here are the kids shoes all lined up! Isn't Ellie's shoe just the cutes thing ever it's so tiny, I was surprised at how much candy was in there! Kaleb decided that he couldn't sleep in his bed, he joined Dana and I at 1 in the morning and I didn't feel like putting him back to bed so I let him sleep with us. He woke up around 5 and discovered the candy in his and his sisters shoes! Let's just say he was VERY energetic all day Sunday!

Dana had this extra clip thingy that his work ID goes on, so I decided to make it into a Binky clasp for Ellie. I really like it cause you can pull the string out as long as ya need it but then when ya let go it zings back in, and that way the Binky doesn't get dragged on the floor or wrapped around Ellie's neck! So anyway this is what it looked like before......

and this is after (sorry not the best pictures).I thought it turned out pretty good and the little metal clasp on the back holds really well so it doesn't come off her clothes easily!The kids classes are putting together some Christmas baskets that are going to be auctioned off at their Winter Festival, the theme for the pre-school basket is "Trim the Tree" so they want things that you would decorate the tree with, originally I was going to just take the kids to the Dollar store and let them pick out some ornaments or garland, but then I saw these really cute ornaments on a blog and I had everything to make them so I decided to give it a try, I will post pictures tomorrow when they are all done.

Sheesh!

Today has been a really busy day, we were all up around 5:30 this morning! The kids heard Dana getting ready for work so they thought "hey how bout we all get up!" and that was that. I definitely NOT a morning person, unless I have something planned or it's a school day I generally sleep in as late as my kids will allow! Anyway so we got up, I got the rest of the laundry done, house cleaned, and the kids bathed all by 7:00 a.m. which was actually kind of nice, then I lounged around in my pajama's till Dana got home around 1:30 p.m.. I did finally get dressed when I decided to go clean out the car!! We finally got the windows on the passenger side of the car up WAHOO!! They aren't fixed mind you but at least they are up and trips out of the house don't require blankets and winter gear, we still need to get the parts to fix the windows, but right now there are some other more pressing things we need to do to the car before our trip to Idaho (13 more days!!) so that comes first. Anyway so since the windows are up I can actually clean it and it will stay that way, it was soooo filthy it took me an hr and a half SHEESH! Once the inside was clean we took it over to the car wash by our house to vacuum it out, I didn't want to risk ruining my vacuum(yes it was that BAD), it does look very nice now and it smells "oh so lemony fresh!" I love now hopefully it will stay pretty clean till our trip to Idaho(13 more days *giggle*). I hate having a dirty car besides driving me INSANE it embarrasses me, just cause I have kids doesn't mean my car has to look like a pig pen!! And really the kids aren't the problem, it's my hubby he just throws anything and everything on the floor, I took out more of his sweaters and jackets then kids toys!!Anyway now I can rest a little easier now that the car is clean (it was buggin me that much!).

In other news Kaleb snuck into my bedroom(which I could have sworn was locked) and pulled out the boxes of Christmas presents (which were in the top of the closet) and unwrapped every single one YUP every one! I bet you can guess how mad I was right!? Kaleb spent most of his afternoon in time-out, and he now has to earn his presents back, I told him if he isn't good then he won't get any presents at all cause I will tell Santa not to bring him any! Needless he was a much better listener and helper the rest of the day, hopefully it will last!

Dane got the rest of the Christmas lights up today and they look pretty good, not perfect mind you but it looks nice. I got Kaleb's bathrobe cut out, hopefully I can get everything else cut out and done before the trip (13 days!! *giggle,giggle*), I have a couple of skirts I need to make by Tuesday though so the winter clothes are going to have to wait a couple of days. We are going to get some family pictures done on Tuesday, the boys are going to wear black shirts, and the girls are going to wear pink shirts with pink, black and white sheer skirts over black tights and they will have bows that match too. I can picture it in my head I can't wait!! Tomorrow is my day to totally rest and rest I shall! Have a great weekend! Oh yeah and don't forget to check out me GIVEAWAY at Goldylocks and her 2 girls!

Ryne and her imagination!

This girl...

cracks me up!! Marryne has quite an imagination, I always her hear talking to herself or her "little friends" which could be anything by the way like tooth brushes, combs, hair brushes, toothpaste, wash clothes, and some toys to but really she plays with EVERYTHING, I really don't think there is anything in this house that she couldn't find entertaining. Aside from playing she uses her imagination to come up with concept like how we had her baby sister, this is her explanation "Mommy went to the Dr. cause she touched banana's, and then baby Ellie popped out, if mommy touches a lots of banana's we are gonna have lots of babies!" no lie that's what she thinks, now we could correct her and tell her how it REALLY works, but both my hubby and I decided we are not quite ready for that talk yet! Oh yeah and for those of you who don't know I am allergic to banana's! I love my girl and her imagination!

Along with Ryne's imagination comes attitude which my mother would tell you she got from me(which I'm sure she did)! Yesterday we ran to Big Lots to get some stuff to make Christmas gifts, when we were leaving the store Ryne saw a man that looked a lot like Santa driving a Suburban she asked me if it was Santa and I said I didn't think so,to which she replied with "He may not be wearing his red suit and I don't know where his reindeer are, but that was him MOMMY!!! after I giggled I said "oh yea!?" she said yes and then continued to ask many questions like "Why wasn't he wearing his suit?","where are his reindeer?","what was he doing in the store?Didn't the elves make all the toys?", to which I replied "He only wears his red suit on Christmas Eve and Christmas, his reindeer are at the north pole resting, maybe there are some things the elves can't make and that's why he was at the store". She was quiet for a few minutes so I thought the conversation was over until she said "well that's DUMB!" What? we asked, she said "that his reindeer are resting, I mean really they only work 2 days a year how much resting could they need!? I really wanted to see his reindeer, and I think that he doesn't wear the red suit all the time cause it makes him look FAT I mean really really FAT, and those elves need to go to school to learn how to make the really cool stuff so that Santa doesn't have to come out with out all of his gear!!" to this my only response was to laugh, she dropped the subject after that and hasn't really talked about it since, now I am wondering when we go to take her to see Santa if she is going to tell him what she thinks, if so I think she is going to get coal this year!! :)

To side track a bit I am doing a giveaway on my hair blog Goldylocks and her 2 girls check it out maybe you will win!!

Stuff my shirt and call me Santa!!

This morning as we were patiently waiting for the bus to come Kaleb ran past me into the laundry room, saying "I need a towel" he takes the towel into his room (I figured he spilled something) and comes out like this!

Kaleb :"HOHOHO I'm Santa!!!" Marryne "No you isn't!" Kaleb: "Yes I is, See my bellie!""HOHOHO MERRY CHRISTMAS!!"

He cracks me up!! My life would be so boring without my lovable joker Kaleb!!

Thanksgiving Week!!

This week has been so awesome!! Dana only worked on Monday, Tuesday we went to the kids class parties which was a lot of fun! Wednesday we went for a walk in the desert and just enjoyed spending quality time with each other, I did a lot of pre-cooking so that I could enjoy Thanksgiving the next day. I decided to start a new Thanksgiving tradition, cinnamon rolls for breakfast! I did all the prep on Wednesday so that all I had to do was throw them in the oven Thursday morning, I got up at 5 so the kids could have fresh cinnamon rolls when they woke up, it was totally worth it, it was a great way to start the day and the kids LOVED it!!

I got to watch most of the Macy's Thanksgiving day Parade with the kids, while Dana went and played football(Turkey Bowl) at the church, he had a blast and so did the kids they really enjoyed all the cool things they saw in the parade.

I decided to make homemade crescent rolls this year, I thought they turned out pretty good what do you think!?

Everyone really enjoyed dinner, Kaleb only had turkey but he loved it, even Ellie got try a little bit of everything!! She loved the turkey and carrots :)Not the best picture, but this was the best pie EVER!!! It was a pumpkin pecan pie, I decided not to make a crust for it since Dane isn't doing a lot of carbs and it was wonderful!!!The kids got to break the wishbone and this was the result.......We figured either they both got their wish or neither one got their wish. Dane had never seen one brake like this, I think the kids might have pulled a little too hard.:)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and so much to be thankful for. Another tradition for us is to put up the tree on Thanksgiving, I didn't think we would manage it this year but to my surprise we did, the kids had a blast and Ellie was intrigued!

We don't go shopping on Friday so we took the kids to the park, when we got home we made homemade noodles for our traditional Turkey Noodle soup, the kids really loved cranking out the noodles.

Tomorrow is our 6th year wedding anniversary and what better way to celebrate then the got to the wards Turkey shoot (I'll post pictures later when I get them). It was a lot of fun and I was the only girl there and I beat 4 guys and YES Dana was among them!! YAHOO it was a blast and I realized how much I truly miss going shooting. We also enjoyed the time away from our kids, so our anniversary will end what was a really perfect week!!