Christmas!!!

We had such a great Christmas and the kids had the time of their life. We went to my parent's house for breakfast and we went to Gentry's house for dinner.

We took the kids to the Water Horse movie. I wouldn't recommend it though. It was a little dark and scary for a kid movie. They didn't really like it either. They asked if we could go to Enchanted again.

Santa brought the kids bikes, so Gentry and I shoveled snow in the back yard to they could ride their bikes. We had lots of fun watching them play with all of their new toys.

Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve! My kids are so excited. They can't wait for tomorrow morning. (Neither can I.)

Here are some pictures of the last few days. The kids got to see Santa at my parents' party. They were so excited to talk to him. Brock tries to act tough and ask for once again...something new. Boston was his cheesy self and just giddy to be sitting on Santa's lap. Alyssa is a little bit shy still, but was having fun. She asked me afterwards if that was the real Santa because she could see a "band" on his face. (Maybe she noticed the rubber band holding his beard on.) I told her I wasn't sure, but either way if it wasn't Santa then it was one of his helpers.

The skirt I am wearing is my Mother-in-law's. We went shopping the day after Thanksgiving and I fell in love with it, but couldn't choke up the money to pay for it....so I convinced Cyndy she needed it. She bought it and was nice enough to let me wear it on Sunday. I was excited because it kind of matched Alyssa's skirt. Thank you again Cyndy!

Last but not least...the PAJAMA Christmas party. Cyndy does this every year and it's my very favorite tradition. She always surprises us with new pajamas. Aren't they the cutest pajamas ever? I love what she picks out. It's nice because they are sweats so I can wear them all of the time!

Sicky...

First of all I titled this post "sicky" because for some reason whenever my kids are sick Gentry adds a Y to everything when talking to my kids. For example he will ask them if they want a drinky or if they need a blanky etc. When Alyssa was 3 she got strep throat and Gentry and I went together to take her to the doctor (boy have times changed). Anyway the doctor asked what was wrong and Gentry...thinking he was still talking to Alyssa I guess said "Yeah she is just feeling really sicky"...I started laughing and said "Gentry you are talking to the Dr.!" He realized what he said and was a little embarrassed. The Dr. got a good laugh too.

Anyway this video is of Boston because he gagged and threw up all of his medicine so we had to take him to get a shot of the good old meds. (He was excited to get the shot for some odd reason.) He wasn't nearly as chipper afterwards. He still complains that he can't walk. I guess next time the medicine mixed with root beer won't sound so bad. Yes I learned that trick from my mom. I gagged on every medication until I was in 8th grade when I finally learned how to swallow pills.

The picture and video were taken with his phone so not the best quality. Sorry.

Big Winner!!!

So I have to post about this lovely "hippity hop". Gentry and I went to a Christmas party over the weekend with some friends and everyone brought a $10.00 gift and a white elephant. So anyway I was lucky enough to pick the "hippity hop" for my white elephant. (We have an inside joke with hippity hops, so that is why my friends wanted me to pick it.) Gentry picked a Cafe Rio gift card. I woke up the next morning and Boston and Alyssa were downstairs looking at the hippity hop in the box and said "Mom, what is this for?"...thinking I bought them a gift. I told them I won it at the party last night. Alyssa with star struck eyes and unbelief that I could win something so cool said "Mom that is so awesome! What did Daddy win?" I said "He won a Cafe Rio gift card!" Alyssa said "Was he so sad he didn't win something cool like you?" I said...yeah probably:) So thank you Mike and Heather for making me the coolest mom for "winning" such an awesome gift. I think it is the favorite gift I have ever won for my kids:)

It's All Fun and Games.....

Well the boys thought it would be fun to go in the snow barefoot. What were they thinking? They want to wear tank-tops everyday. I finally convinced them to wear long sleeved shirts underneath. Boston started crying after a few minutes of walking in the snow. He told me, "My feets are so cold." I don't think they learned a lesson either...a few minutes after they warmed up they were back out again. (I hear it's an old wives tale that being in the cold makes you get sick.) I'll let you know if they get sick in the next day or two.
Alyssa is the smarter one. She would rather stay inside and color.

Christmas Time!

I love Christmas time. I love getting together with family and friends. I remember thinking as a kid how boring Christmas must be for adults. Now I know how my parents felt. It's so much fun to watch how excited your kids get.

It's so fun to get Christmas cards, and catch up with what everyone is doing.

Christmas is also a good time for me to sit back and look at how blessed our family is. I feel so lucky to be surrounded by good people. We are blessed with so much. I haven't ever had to skip a meal. (which I could probably use:) We have a great home and neighborhood to live in, and so much more.

One of my favorite traditions is opening pajamas from Cyndy on Christmas Eve. I always want to know what she picked out and she won't ever tell me. It's fun to have a surprise, but it is so hard for me to wait.

In my family we all get together and the little kids act out the first Christmas while my brother reads it. I think it's good for the kids to know what Christmas is about.

Santa!!!

So I decided to take the kids to the mall to see Santa. I had my nieces with me. I was excited to take pictures of everyone with Santa and while I was waiting in line I noticed a sign saying that you can't take pictures with your own camera. I can understand they need to make money but I was a little bit frustrated because I wanted to take my own pictures too. Oh well.

Snowy Days

So I have to say I'm not a huge fan of the snow. If it weren't for our families and friends I think we would live in a different state. (A state that doesn't have snow.) The kids want to like the snow, but when it comes to their snow gear this year there is just no enjoying. Brock's snow suit is way too small, but it's all we had this year. So that four inches around his ankles are not skin colored boots...you are getting a good look at his legs. The gloves would be Gentry's socks. (Hey I was just glad he used the socks without holes.) At least Alyssa wore pants under her snow suit. The kids are getting boots and socks for Christmas, so that's why they are wearing ankle socks with tennis shoes. Boston was the smarter one. He stayed inside drinking hot chocolate, wearing the one and only Mickey Mouse pj top with flannel pants that have a hole in the crotch. (For some reason this is his favorite thing to wear...even when it's not bedtime.)

Christmas Decorating!

Well the kids couldn't wait a day longer, so on Sunday we decided to put up the Christmas decorations. Boston wanted a teeny tiny Christmas tree to sleep with and keep in his room. I don't know what he loves about teeny tiny things, but the other day I found a "teeny tiny " ball of tissue stuck up his nose. Luckily I plugged one nostril and made him blow and it finally came out. Can you imagine..."Um yes Dr. my son stuck a ball of toilet paper up his nose, can you please dig it out for me."

Oh and little side note...we went to see Enchanted last night. I LOVED IT!!! You have to go see it. It was the best show ever! I laughed cause it was so cute. I left the theatre smiling. My kids loved it too. They were glued to the screen. We went to the Bee movie on Thanksgiving and they liked Enchanted way more. This morning Brock asked if he could watch "twitches" again. It took a minute but then I realized he was talking about Enchanted. I knew Boston and Alyssa would love it, but even Brock loved it!

Brock...changed his clothes so he could get into the groove a little bit easier.

Killing time before the movie

Well we had to get this on video. I don't know where Alyssa picked up on this, but she thinks she is break dancing. She gets really serious. She has tried to teach the boys how to do it too. We had some time to kill before going to see the Bee Movie.

Happy Thanksgiving

We want to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving! Hopefully you will all eat lots of food, because we will.

Love,

The Mikesell Family

Cousin picture

So I wanted to post this picture of the cousins pumpkin patch. I was thinking that most of the family hasn't seen it. Sorry it's a little old, but I figured better late than never right??? Pretty weird that 8 of the cousins live out of state now. We miss all of you, and can't wait for you to come home for the holidays!

Buster, Connor and Jaron were gone so they weren't in the picture either. It looks like such a small group.

We are thankful for....

Tonight at dinner we were talking about Thanksgiving and we told the kids that this is a time we need to think about things that we are thankful for. Here is how it went.

Me: I am thankful for my family. I am thankful for our home and all of the fun things we get to do. I am thankful that Alyssa cleaned the basement today. (I am trying to encourage the cleaning.)

Alyssa: I am thankful for our food, I am thankful for our family and our house and our beds.

Boston: I am thankful for our family, and our toys.

Brock: I am thankful for our money, and Disneyland. (As if he really knows much about money.)

I have to tell one quick story about Boston. Every time I tell him it's time to take a nap he whines (big surprise). So I tell him as soon as you fall asleep you can hurry and wake up. He always shows me with his fingers (imagine about an 1/8 of an inch) this is how big of a nap I want to take. Just a little teeny tiny nap. Everything he wants is teeny tiny. He wants a teeny tiny reindeer for Christmas. Brock wants a big huge pocket knife. They are so random. They make me laugh though.

I have been tagged!

So I have now been tagged by Jennifer, Diana and Trista. Basically they all are the same...I have to say 6 things about myself. So here it goes.

1. This stresses me out thinking of things to write.

2. I am totally up to date on scrap booking, but my pages are not cute. It makes me sweat just thinking of something crafty and cute...way too much stress. I crop the pictures and write little stories underneath. That's as good as it gets with me.

3. I am addicted to shopping. Yes I am admitting it. I think it gets worse when I don't have any money, it's like....I know I shouldn't buy it....but it's such a good deal. It can be anything from shoes to...oh more shoes...well you get my point.

4. I love to run outside. I would rather run outside in 11 degree weather than be in on the treadmill. The treadmill is like prison to me. I just can't handle it. (Not that I really know what prison is like. But I can imagine.)

5. I am enjoying having three kids...whoa did I just say that. Well I did struggle during the poopy years, but they are getting to be so fun. They make me laugh, and it's cute to see they care when I am crying or having a melt down.

6. I am addicted to Diet Coke...sorry mom. My mom struggles with me and my sisters and our love for the drink. If I am having a bad day there is nothing better than a fresh fountain Diet Coke! It's pretty pathetic I have to have a quick drink before I head out for my morning run.

I am tagging those of you reading this who have not yet been tagged. (Will you make a comment so I can make sure to read your blog.)

Boston and Buzz...aka Max my nephew were playing with the Honey Bee Hop Alyssa got for her birthday. Boston just learned how to hop...or should I say prance around. He used to run around it...and tell us he was hopping, in his words "I am hopping just a little tiny bit". But to the rest of the world he was just dodging it so he wouldn't trip. He couldn't wait to show me when he really learned how to hop.

Bad day for Brock...again.

Well we have know idea how long Brock has had this binki in his room, but we found it today. He was sucking on it like he has had it for a while. So we told him binkis are for babies. Gentry decided to cut the nipple off because he didn't want him to have it. 2 hours later this picture was taken and he was still crying. He keeps asking for us to put tape on it and fix it. My kids really are happy sometimes, but I wanted you to all see what we got to experience tonight. Happy days...:)

Launch Day!!!

I had to title this post Launch Day, in memory of The Office. Anyway I am excited to say we are FINALLY ready to launch the website. We put it off a little bit because we were so busy this summer. But now it is ready to be viewed. So you will all have to check it out at bluewaterofutah.com

So you will all have to let me know what you think of it. (Of course I make you comment so I have something to check on my blog.)

Nice weather outside...

So I have to post this story because I couldn't stop laughing. Anyway I was getting ready for church on Sunday and I hear Gentry telling the kids they better go play outside while it is such nice weather. I didn't think much of it until about a 1/2 hour later when we were driving to Gentry's mom's house and Gentry says "I can't believe the weather has dropped 15 degrees in only 30 minutes!" I thought for a second and said "Gentry where were you reading that it was 70 degrees out?" And he said "on the computer." I looked at him and could hardly hold in my laugh, and said "Gentry, are you kidding me the computer is telling us the room temp...not the outside temp." He felt embarrassed and said "well that explains it....luckily I didn't have the kids go outside in swimsuits....they might have gotten frostbite or something." Well we got a good laugh.

Boston ate my nose!

This is a picture of Brock crying because he was sure Boston ate his nose. Gentry played the game with them a few weeks ago and teased the kids that he was eating their nose. Well Boston apparently did it to Brock, but didn't give the nose back, so Brock was throwing a fit because he wanted his nose back. So I took this picture of him to show him he still had a nose. Boston actually bit his nose...luckily he didn't leave any marks. A little side note: It doesn't matter what the temp is outside, Brock loves to take his shirt off. I swear every picture I take of him he has his shirt off.

Happy Anniversary

Well Gentry and I had our 8th Anniversary this week. I can't believe it has been 8 years since we got married. We went to PF Chang's for dinner, and then we came home and watched the Bachelor together. (Yes that is why I love him...he likes the same lame tv shows I do.) Gentry keeps me every bit as entertained as my kids do. He knows how much I love to read everyone's blogs and comments and so the other day he yells from the computer room..."We have 3 comments!" Of course I knew he was trying to get my hopes up so I responded with "whatever!" Then he proceeds to say well Diana said that she thinks..... and then Lindsay said......and I can't remember what he said, but it sounded so believable that I came running in to read the comments and there was nothing. He loves to torture me. I couldn't stop laughing though because he knows me and my friends so well he can make comments for us all. ( I can't believe I believed him.) I think I was laughing about the fake comments for about 20 minutes. I couldn't ask for a better husband. He always knows when I need a laugh. My sister always makes fun of us because we are inseparable. He is my best friend. I love you babe!

Alyssa's Birthday Party

Happy Birthday Alyssa!!! Today we celebrated Alyssa's birthday. Her birthday is on November 8th (tomorrow) but we had her party today because tomorrow we have our ward primary program practice. I am the chorister, so I have to be there. We had a Princess Party. I did all of the girls hair and make-up, my sister in law Kassie painted their fingernails, and my mother in law got crowns for all of the girls to decorate. Thanks to my in laws the party was a success. Alyssa had a great time.

Alyssa

Alyssa loves school. She can't wait to go back on track. I feel bad for her because most of her friends are in 1st grade, not to mention on a different track. Her birthday is in a couple of days! I asked her how her first day on the bus was and she said "some boys were giving me 5 when I got on the bus...they thought I was hot." I laughed and said..."I bet they were trying to be nice."

For those of you who didn't believe me.

Here is the proof. I literally cleaned poop up everyday of my life from the time the twins were 18 months until they were 2 and a half. I took these pictures because I thought no one would ever really believe me...yes that is their poo...and that was one of the least messy times too. They smell like crap (literally), and they are still happy. Does anyone else think this is weird?

Seriously???

Well the boys are going to regret ever doing this. They got in Alyssa's underwear and thought it would be fun to wear as a mask.

Last week I looked outside (keep in mind it is only about 40 degrees outside) and the boys are naked riding their bikes with their underwear on their heads. The dumbest part of all is Boston happened to have boxer briefs and he couldn't even see where he was riding. I yelled at him to stop just before he was about to ride onto the pool cover. I don't know what they were thinking. At least Brock could see where he was riding because he had regular underwear. I wish I would have taken a quick picture before getting mad at them...but it wasn't so funny at the time.

Summer Memories....

We were looking back at some of the fun times we had this summer. Here are a couple of things we did.

We went swimming....everyday! We went to Disneyland!!! The kids loved it, they couldn't wait to meet the characters and get thier autographs. We looked down and the twins had disappeared...they ran as fast as they could running in front of a line of people to hug Donald Duck. We couldn't believe they were so excited we thought they might be scared. Boston loved the every princess. He told me yesterday that when I dress up like Snow White, he wants to marry me. (He wants to be Snow White himself I think.) Brock just wants to find bad guys, and wear bad guy clothes. Alyssa was pretty brave on all of the rides...she didn't want to go on The Tower of Terror...that was a little too scary for her.

Making fools of ourselves...big surprise.

Ok so part of me is a little embarrassed to even post this, but it was too funny not to tell. So we went to Chili's this weekend with our friends Mitch and Amy Dansie. While we were eating Amy starts freaking out hitting Mitch saying "Look it's Jerry Sloan!" So anyway Mitch...who is a huge fan starts freaking out too...Amy is like lets take a picture with our phone. Well I happened to have a camera in my purse, so I gave it to Amy. She actually went up to him and asked if she could take his picture. Well my stupid flash was turned off so when she got back we looked at the pictures and Mitch said they looked a bit like he had been microwaved. So I was determined to take a better picture with the flash, so when we got done with dinner Gentry went around the restaurant (outside) and found a spot through the window we could see him. So I go over there to take a picture (from outside). Gentry wanted to be in the picture too so he faked like he was going to the bathroom...and walked right by Sloan, well I was trying to take a picture of all of this and my flash worked this time. The flash worked so well that everyone in the restaurant knew I was taking a picture because they were all blinded by my camera's flash. They all looked over to me standing in front of the Chili's window. Yep I am officially an embarrassing idiot. Well it was fun anyway. Enjoy the picture Amy took, because the one I took didn't work AT ALL!! All of the embarrassment for nothing.

The kids were able to go with Grandma Cyndy and join the Halloween parade. They thought they were pretty cool. Alyssa's friends are all in Grandma's class, so she got to be a part of the parade even though she is off track. My mom is going to be a new first grade teacher with Cyndy! Pretty exciting!

Happy Halloween!!

Well the kids had a great time trick-or-treating this year. They were so much fun. They ran from house to house so excited. The boys were originally supposed to be pirates, but after dressing up 3 times, they decided Tigger would be more fun. I wasn't opposed to the idea because the Tigger costumes were lots warmer and we still had them from last year. Alyssa was a little disappointed that we had to put on long sleeve and pants under her outfit because "that is not what Tinkerbell looks like". Oh well it got cold quick and she was glad to have on the extra clothing. I think the kids enjoyed passing out candy just as much as they did getting the candy.