Sisters!

Grace and Kate got matching cheetah girl outfits for Christmas from Grandma Diane. They soaked up the attention during their modeling session on top of the kitchen table. I love that they feel beautiful and confident. Work that camera girls! You are natural born stars.

Christmas Traditions

Merry Christmas! When we moved away from family four Christmases ago we felt a huge need to start our own traditions. Things we could do with the five of us. So far, this is one of my favorite traditions. Every Christmas morning Wing makes crepes with all kinds of fruit, ice cream, whipped cream and cottage cheese. He also cooks meat, eggs and hash browns as side dishes. Everyone loves the feast and looks forward to it each year. This year we kept the tradition alive by making a little extra for the Durrants. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! Thanks Wing!

The True Meaning of Christmas

This was my favorite Christmas moment. The children never cease to surprise me. They took each part of the nativity so serious. Before we went over to Aunt Mindy's house, we had a mini family home evening and read parts of the nativity story that we don't read during the nativity program at the big party. Parker and Grace listened and read the scriptures so intently. Even Kate was reverent. We were all amazed by how well they understood what was read. It was great to be taught by the spirit through our children.

Gabe was a giggling shepherd. Parker was Joseph despite Kate's urges to get married. Kate was Mary and Grace was the angel and star. We all held in our laughter when gazing upon Kate. She was so serious and had a truly sweet reverence for Mary and the baby Jesus. She never faltered from her sacred role. She held Jesus so tenderly, even though he looked as though he were about to fall on his head.

Zoolights

Today we decided to visit Hogle Zoo and see their Zoolight show. It was much better than we expected. Each animal section of the zoo had it's own animated lights. We didn't see many animals because of the cold weather, but the lights were beautiful. I was surprised that we stayed as long as we did. It was either freezing or hot and sweaty in the indoor animal viewing areas. Nor rain, nor sleet, nor hail... The Butler's just love being together!

We brought our own hot chocolate and the kids loved the never ending supply of warm chocolaty goodness. Can you blame them? Grace felt like the turtle and desert lights were made just for her, Tina and Tiny.

This was the kids and Amanda's favorite light show. A fly flew above the frogs and lands on the frog on the right. The fly zips off just in time to see the frog get smacked in the head by his friend. Don't worry no flies were harmed in the viewing of these lights.

If you've been to Hogle Zoo, you've probably drunk from the lion drinking fountain. It's an old favorite and has been there since I was a kid. Now it's one of Parker's favorite zoo attractions too.

Snow Baby

Kate just loved the snow in Utah. She was outside playing in the snow every chance she got until her little nose and fingers could take it no longer. Each trip outside required a small cup and spoon for her to dig with and make minnie snow castles. The snow must taste better in Henderson. She was eating the white stuff constantly. Here in Utah she just wants to play. Maybe all the talk about yellow snow finally sunk in.

Daddy helped shovel the driveway and got creative with the huge pile of snow. He made Kate a little snow cave. Afterall, she is his little princess and they both love spoiling each other. It doesn't get much better than this!

The Weather Outside Is Frightful... YIPEE!

It's been a constant snow flurry in Utah... and we love it! We left our home in Henderson with 6 inches of snow to play in more snow in American Fork. The kids are taking full advantage of the white stuff and are outside playing in it as much as possible. Today Amanda fought her way through 4 different stores to get some sleighs for the kids and found these blue beauties. Amanda and I used to walk to this park to sleigh down the hills when we were kids. It was fun to bring those memories full circle with my own children. We had a blast!

Poor Parker. He's too much like his old lady! I was nervous to go down my first sleigh run and made my little sister go down first while I whimpered at the top of the hill. It was especially shameful when Amanda hit a tree on her way down the hill. We told my kids the story and laughed our heads off when Parker wanted Grace to go down first because he was nervous too. At least Grace didn't hit a tree. After that Parker was a sleigh riding torpedo! We both agree that it's better to be safe than sorry.

Grace just has a natural talent with everything! She kept trying to go faster and faster with each run down the hill. She even laughed when she bit the dust.

You can tell by Kate's expression that she had a great time. I marvel at how Kate just enjoys life. She always has a spring in her step and a smile in her heart. She never keeps you guessing and always let's us know how she feels. It's so fun to watch her enjoy even the smallest of life's moments always on her tippy-toes. It's such a joy to have Kate Diane in our family!

Kate went so fast down the hill that when she hit a bump her little body would go flying. The first few biffs were not a big deal. She even laughed about it. But the third roll over caught her in the face. That was the end of sleigh riding for her. Wing joined in on the action by locking arms with Parker and Grace and letting Kate ride on top of him. Parker and Grace thought it was fun and quite daring to go down backwards, but Kate's never forgetting memory didn't allow her to enjoy it as much as the others. Oh well... Wing's still got my vote for best Daddy!

Let It Snow?!, by Melissa

Yesterday was an amazing and unusual day in Henderson. It snowed! Not just a small flurry of snow either. Henderson got 5 inches of snow! It felt like a good ol' fashioned Christmas snow storm. Needless to say, our family took full advantage of the historic experience. Kate especiallly enjoyed her first snow fall with mouthfuls of snow... over.... and over again. What a great way to start the Holiday Season!

A Blast From The Past: Cootie Catcher

Do you remember making these when you were a kid? Last night Grace googled how to make a fortune teller/cootie catcher and she found this video. We each made about three different sizes of these and now Grace and Parker are the most popular kids in school. In fact, Grace has 15 orders from her classmates. Needless to say... She's getting a bit tired!

Enjoy.....

How To Make A Cootie Catcher/fortune Teller - The most amazing home videos are here