Christmas Sunday picture

Here is our family picture on Christmas Sunday, just a few days after Jacob came home. Now he leaves again to go to Ft. Rucker tomorrow night. Hopefully we'll all be together again soon in Alabama.

I love how the more kids we have the harder it gets to have a "perfect" picture. I love how Lizzie is trying to comfort Simeon while he cries and Bekah has a weird look on her face while Sariah sucks on her fingers as usual. I think I actually like the pictures where the kids don't look picture perfect better than the good ones where they are all smiling and happy. I like looking at the kids and remembering how they were at that age. It's fun.

Simeon's blessing day

Simeon was blessed this past Sunday. We all went home and had lunch together afterward. Here are a few of the pictures I took later that day. He's such a sweet baby. We love having him in our family.

Here's one with Sariah wanting in on the picture taking.

I love how his cute little ears turn out at the top.

Toppling over again and loving it!
Oh, and he has spit up on his face as usual. Gotta love those reflux babies.

Lowell Christmas

Our Christmas started early this year but not because of excitment although we were excited. Eliza woke up at 4:00 AM throwing up and then Lucy woke up at 4:30 throwing up. Lucy threw up again at 5:30 ands then about 6:30 she discovered anew thing as she exclaimed, half laughing, "I think I threw up in my butt!" Other that that we had a beautiful Christmas and everyone seemed well enough that we decided to try going to Fallbrook even with our sickies. Below are pictures of our Nativity scene including Eliza and Vilate as the "Wise Princesses". Hannah was being so cute with the manger that I had to take pictures. Here is another more loving one.

Christmas at the Cabin

Christmas Dinner w/Brian, Nikiesha, and Parker Richards

Hello Holt family members!!
It's been a wonderful Christmas for everyone here in Alaska. We decided to be adventurous and rented a public use cabin and rough it for Christmas. It was gorgeous, and it snowed while we were there. We, and our friends, the Richard family, went down Christmas Eve night, we were a little slow in starting (and stressed). So our timing of events (ie: nativity scene, opening presents) was rather unoriginal. Everything was moved to Christmas Day. Woke up, had omelets, then got the kids playing outside, because they were being naughty in the cabin, and brought back a waist high pine tree. We decorated it with glue/glitter ornaments and popcorn on string. We were very proud of our Christmas Tree. Then the boys went outside again in the snow and we played until Santa came, which he did. All morning we had told the boys that Santa had been watching and hadn't come yet because the boys were being a little naughty. So Santa finally came and boy were there a lot of presents! Then that night we had our "big" Christmas dinner and played a nativity scavenger hunt game (thanks Mom!) the boys loved looking for the presents. Christmas day & night it snowed a lot, so Travis is out plowing right now, afraid he's lost some business. I took some pix to give you an idea of how beautiful it was this morning.

The beautiful winter wonderland
Boys in their Gramma Nancy PJs posing on the top bunk

Cute brothers

Santa Came!! Presents

Our family, our Christmas Tree

The Upper Omer Lake Cabin, I'm standing on the frozen Omer Lake, and to the left is the 1/4 mile trail to the road.

Popcorn on string

Sledding w/the tree

Travis pulled me, Tracker, Trayton, Tustin, Nikiesha, and Parker to the cabin Christmas Eve. We sang "Dashing through the snow in a one daddy open sleigh" It was fun.

Love you all, and hope you had a Merry Christmas too. Thanks Jacob, Tiff, Rebekah, Sariah, Joseph, Elizabeth, and Simeon, for the Sunday notebook, and the game of Mancala!

Gramma's Recipe Swap

As a christmas present to all of you. We have created a special web site for publishing all of Mom's many recipes that she has collected in her grey cookbook.

For the time being, it can be reached at http://vz117.securenet-server.net:8080/recipe/index.htm. In the near future you'll be able to use gramma.biz.

Christmas Eve 2008 at Gramma Holt's

Here are some shot's of what it was like at our house last Christmas Eve. Jacob was on leave, Ezra was with us and the Little Holt's put on the Nativity Pageant.

Emma's 8

Emma is 8! Here she is with her new outfit from Gramma Jody and her new doll from Gramma Nancy. She also sang for her first time in church today. She did really good! Also video of us singing Happy b-day.

Keller's December

YEA!! Jacob is home! Love you big bro. :)

Hey everyone, it's been a while since I've posted any pix, and it's been a while since I've taken pix. I've also been real busy with P90X, a new excersize program I've started. It also involves eating healthy, and alloted amounts of each food group. You won't see the before pix until I have the "after" pix.

Boys on Santa's lap at our ward Christmas party.
Tracker is trying to pull off Santa's beard.

The 3 brothers cuddling

Travis, Tracker & I had the "opportunity"(as Travis would tell it) to be Joseph, Baby Jesus, and Mary for the ward primary sharing time last Sunday. And that's the same outfit I wore as Mary for "the monologue" at our Relief Society Christmas party. Following in Mother's footsteps, again! Love you Mom (YFM)!!

As you can see, Tustin no longer wears diapers (saving us $50 a month). The boys thought they were pirates w/the bandanas on their heads, and I realized afterward they were wearing red and green! And they've made a slide out of their toy box lid and the one step in our house.

Tracker growing up.

Today is Travis' 27th birthday, just to let you all know. He's out with the boy scouts, trying to stay warm!!

Love you all. You're the best and we especially miss you this Christmas season.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Jacob Home from Basic Training

Jacob just got home. Here are some pictures that were taken immediately after Tiff picked him up from the Airport.

Meeting Papa

Thanksgiving

THis year for THankgiving the Lowell's (Gary and Mary) invited everyone to the Institute for our feast. It was really fun! THere were crafts for the kids and Mario Cart and GAry was even able to use his resources as an Institute Director to share a spiritual message. It was crazy in the kitchen and I entertained Hannah with some spoons on the floor. When cousin Samuel came he joined her. This cute picture was the only one I ended up taking.

Parley was so excited about wearing a SAnta hat to school the other day and even put on a matching red shirt so I had to take a picture. Also look at this cool sunset from our backyard.
By the way if anyone has more THanksgiving pictures can they please post them? (Nettie too)

Here are my black and white pictures of the week. I was just playing around with Picasa. I wish I had a professional photo editor. That would be so much fun! Anyway, Rebekah got new earrings for the holidays, and she is loving them. They make her feel so grown up when she wears them. She calls them her "dangly" earrings.

This one was on Thanksgiving day up in Ramona.

And here is a cute one of Mom and Dad as Mary and Joseph. And of course a cute little baby Simeon as Jesus. Merry Christmas guys, we love you!

This pictures is for those of you who don't believe me when I say Carlos really over fills the Dishwasher!!!

What happens when your kids are unsupervised...

Yesterday I was teaching Rebekah how to feed Simeon with a bottle, and this was what happened when the rest of the kids were unsupervised during that time...

While I was helping Rebekah in my room Sariah comes screaming at the top of her lungs into the house. She comes in my room wailing that her lips and tongue are burning, so I tell her to run to the bathroom and drink some water. She evidently had been picking the last of the peppers out of the garden and decided to eat some. She comes running back from the bathroom and wails that it's not working, so I get up and get her some milk. She drinks a huge glass of milk and starts wailing again, "it's not working. My lips are burning!" I get up off my bed again where Rebekah is with Simeon and have Sariah get a tortilla to see if that will help (works for me), but that didn't do the trick. Poor girl had eaten a Thai dragon pepper, and they are hotter than a jalapeno! I finally get the bright idea to get an ice pack out of the freezer and put it on her lips. The relief was instant, thank goodness. I tell her she can stick her tongue out if she wants to cool it off also, and for some reason that sent her into a fit of giggles. Silly kid. I talk to her for a minute, and realize I hear the cat meowing somewhere in the house. I look up and see...

, Joseph on the barstool in front of the washer having the time of his life. He has the cat in the washing machine and is opening and closing the lid over and over again. Thankfully I didn't have anything soaking in there at the time. I asked Joseph, "Did you put the kitty in the washing machine?" He looks at me with this huge grin on his face and proudly answers, "Yes!" Ahhhhhh!!!!!
Our cats put up with a lot from our kids. They are real troopers!

I had the hardest time not laughing at what Joseph was doing. It would only have spurred him on to new and higher achievements in toddlerhood. Poor Sariah looked terrible after her ordeal, and honestly, I had a hard time not laughing while she was trying to cool off her mouth. She puts absolutely everything in her mouth, and this time the results were a little over the top for her. Her lips were red and swollen for a few hours, and her face was slightly puffy too. At least the other cat was with her and not being terrorized by Joseph. Like I tell all those strangers that ask how I mange to have so many kids, "Life is always fun at our house!"