Christmas Vacation in Idaho!!!

We spent our week of Christmas fun in Idaho with Matt's family. It has been a while since we have spent all of Christmas with just one side of the Family. Wait. . .oh that's right we have never been with just one side of the family. We have always done the "go to one family and then leave mid party to make the 3 hour drive to see the other family." This year my family was spending Christmas in Ohio with my brother Cameron and his family. We celebrated Christmas two Sundays before with that side of the family and then they all took off. The weekend before we headed to Idaho to start the fun. We started the party Sunday with the Clinger family party, then Monday night with the Ottersberg family party, and the fun just kept going. We enjoyed seeing family we hadn't been with in a while.

We spent the two nights leading up to Christmas helping "Santa" assemble the fun stuff. All Sammie wanted for Christmas was "Food for her babies" so that is what she got. Santa brought Sammie a Kitchen with lots of fun food. She was over the moon. She kept making food for us all day long. Oh she also got DORA shoes and will not take them off.



Eston got a basketball stand and loved shooting hoops but had to stand on someones legs to do it. He thought he was pretty special. He was more excited to just be with everyone and kept trying to figure out how to open the gifts. It was fun to watch him this year.



We have been trying to figure out why anybody bought them presents when they were completely happy with the wrapping paper and the boxes. That entertained them for about an hour or two.



We enjoyed our Christmas in Idaho so much we stayed two extra days and kept the party going.

More Christmas Fun!!

So Along with all the fun we had with Christmas in Idaho. One night Matt's mom decided that everyone needed a foot massage and soak from her. Sammie took the first honors. She had never had one of these and thought if she ever were a princess it was now.



So the foot massage entailed the following services. A foot soak with bath salts for aroma therapy, hot rocks on the bottom, a foot rub while soaking, she put lotion on our legs and feet with an additional massage, and then wrapped to keep warm at the end. As she finished up each persons massage she thanked them for coming and said that we were each entitled to a piece of cheesecake for an after massage treat. She was quiet professional. Matt took his turn and couldn't stop laughing for a few reasons. The first was because his size 14 feet didn't fit completely into the tub that was being used. So he had to adjust and B was because he is so ticklish he just couldn't stop. I think he enjoyed it. I might be able to talk him into going to a SPA for our anniversary next week.

ZOO Lights!!!

We thought that it would be fun to take the kids to see the Lights at the Hogle Zoo. The kids love the Zoo and the love lights. Zoo + Lights = fun (right?) Not so much. We got there early so it wouldn't be quite as cold or crowded. We had mass amounts of blankets, hats, gloves, coats, and treats. Sammie was so excited when we walked through the front gate. And then 3..2...1.. (wait for it) she started to cry and I don't mean a little cry it was a full blown melt down. Anyway we started through the zoo and the whole time Sammie is crying and I am trying to calm her down which usually isn't too hard. By the time we are as far from the front gates as we possibly could be, I realized that Sammie had wet her pants and everything was wet. No wonder the girl was screaming. However as I mentioned leaving she would cry harder. So I managed to get in one family picture before leaving.



We headed up to the gate and left, but not before Eston started in on the chorus. The two of them cried the whole way home as if the world had ended. Yes, we all lived but what was thought to have been a fun family tradition for the future has turned into one more thing on the list of things that we won't even discuss for another 10 years. (Hope the zoo is still doing it then.)
Oh, the coolest part was the 3-D glasses that we bought. That was almost worth the whole ordeal. When you put them on it makes any light, even the moon, into a snowman. So cool. I am supposed to buy about 20 pair for my mother-in-law. It made for lots of fun on Christmas Eve.

i made this. . .

So I have to show off this cute project I did. I say this because I took sewing lessons when I was 9 for about 6 months. After which I lost it (Sewing is not like riding a bike, you don't remember.)
I didn't touch a sewing machine for about16 years after that. I only started to sew again because my sweet mother-in-law(I mean Santa) bought me a sewing machine for Christmas. That was about 3 years ago. I thought I can't let a gift go to waste. So I learned how to make quilts and man I can make one mean quilt. (When I say one I mean I only know how to make one kind.) That is until 2 days ago.

Now that you have my sewing biography I will continue on with the story. Two days ago I was blog surfing, as I so enjoy doing, when I happened across my friend Katie's blog ("Clark and Katie" on my list) when I saw this cute dress that she made out of one of her husbands shirts. I thought that looks easy and I get to mutilate clothing, (always fun) in the process. From there she had a link to another blog site with step by step instructions. Whoever manages that site bought her brain at the same store I did. She had visuals and detailed step by step instructions. It was AMAZING!!! So here it is. I did this myself with no one else sewing with me (I did have to make a few calls to a good friend (who puts up with that stuff). And YEAH!!!





If anyone is up to the easy challenge I can tell you exactly where to find this. You to can by a PRO SEWER PERSON!!!

OH ALSO DONN"T FORGET TO LOOK AT MY CHRISTMAS CARD. It's below this.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Family picture frustrations

It doesn't matter what we do, but I don't think that it is in the cards for us to get a good family picture this year. My last post in Nov. turned out to be a work of art as you can see. I think it was borderline Picasso. And now. Our Camera is dumb. That is all that I can say about that. We took this picture which turned out descent however, our camera made it really pixelated (is that a word.) And there is only so many times that you can drag your family out and expect them to be happy about it. With that and too many other Christmas projects (will post pics later, maybe) we aren't going to be sending out cards this year. (Still leave us on you list, we will send next year.)
So MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Consider this our Christmas card.

Matt just finished his Master's in May in Architecture and works in Downtown Salt Lake City with a great Firm. I am in Primary and crazy busy with my kids, other peoples kids, and trying to convince myself that I am crafty (still out for debate.) Samantha and Eston are each others best friends. They are always reading each other books and wrestling with each other. That is when Sammie isn't parading around the house in her Princess dress and Eston isn't making the animal noises as he roams around (we still don't know which animal is which, unless he starts raising his arm. Then we know that he is imitating an Elephant.)

I hope this finds everyone well and that you all enjoy your Holidays!!!

The Clingers

Not Much To Say

I don't have much to say but I got chewed out for not posting since Thanksgiving. You would think it has been longer than two or three weeks. So I guess I will just tell you about the kids. Sammie is getting really excited for Christmas. She went and sat on Santa's Lap with a little caution. When asked what she wants for Christmas from Santa she gives two different answers "Food for my dollies" or "Munch (lunch) for my babies" Same thing so I guess will have to see what happens. Santa is going to have to get creative with this request. Her current over used phrases are, "I na no" (I don't know), "In a lilla (little) bit" and my personal favorite is " I'm sorry Mommy, I ninn't mean to" I don't know where she picked that one up but she says it with no sincerity at all. I have to try not to laugh. Oh, and since we are still having Potty training accidents I have a new phrase I started to use with her. I'll say, "Sammie, do you see the pretty princesses on your panties? When you wet your pants you get the princesses all wet and then you make the Princesses cry." This worked for about 3 days, after which Sammie's reply back was, "Oh, I made the Princesses cry, see Mom. They are sad." However she keeps wetting. Oh well. It was a shot in the dark.

Here is a picture since a blog isn't as fun without pictures.




This was right after their bath, they kept saying cheese, so I went and got the camera.