Christmas Parties

For Christmas this year we celebrated with Richs family the day after Christmas. It was so much fun, and great that everyone was there. Including Grandma Perry. My kids love to play with their cousins and it so much fun and chaotic when we are all together. I wouldn't change it for anything.

The kids are playing christmas songs with chimes, they had a lot of fun with it.
Here is Samantha with Rich, he loved it that she was happy with only him. She loved playing peek a boo with his hat.


At my parents house we have our party on Christmas eve. My uncle Gregg every year reads The Polar Express. The kids love it, and someone is always hiding in the room with a bell to ring.

We do the nativity, this year Abby was Mary, with the newest baby in our family. Charitys little baby Tyler. They were all so cute, and they love to get dressed and acting out their rolls while Grandpa reads the story from the scriptures.


For the gift exchange, whoever wants to participate brings a gift. We did Emergency Preparedness items, or Food Storage. Everyone puts their gift in the middle and draws numbers. Number 1 goes first, and then so on. As you play it, you can take a gift from the middle or steal one that has already been opened. Its a lot of fun, especially if you bring the gift that everyone fights over. It was a great Christmas, and we love to spend it with our families, I love that both of our families are close and we get to see them often.

Winter Fun

One day last week, I heard the door close and I quickly followed to find out what was going on. I knew Nathan was getting on his snow clothes to go to the backyard and play with the tubes. Leah decided to follow. She dressed herself in her hat, gloves, coat and boots, and wanted to be in the fun. Apparently we don't have any good hills in the backyard to slide, so the trampoline was the next best option.

Gingerbread Houses and Christmas Tree

It is a Rowley tradition to make gingerbread houses every year. My kids look forward to this for weeks. This year they were each able to make their own. Abby then helped Leah with hers. They have loved sneaking candy off of their houses every day.

Here is our Christmas Tree. I have loved it, and I think the kids did a great job of decorating it.

Merry Christmas, and I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday Season!

Cutting Down Our Christmas Tree

This year we thought it would be a lot of fun to take the kids and cut down our own tree. Not to mention its cheaper than buying one from a lot. We bundled up everyone and headed out. It was so much fun. We had to get out a couple times and take closer looks at some trees, but in the end we found a great one.


I know they are kind of dark, it was getting dark fast out there. Abby is helping Rich pull the tree across the little stream that they had to cross. They loved helping Rich use the saw and Leah and I were content to stand and watch. It was so much fun and I think a new tradition for our family. As soon as Rich downloads the rest of the pictures you can see a final product. It fits prefect for our house and I love the smell of fresh trees. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!

The 13 Articles of Mormon Culture

I found this and thought it was good for a laugh!

1. We believe SUVs and minivans to be our form of transportation, and in knee length shorts -- which are always nice and, of course, in multilevel marking.

2. We believe that church ball players should be punished for their own fouls, and not for unsportsmanlike aggression.

3. We believe that through bread crumbs, cheese, creamy soups, and rice all casseroles can be saved through obedience to ward cookbooks and creativity in the mixing bowl.

4. We believe that the first layers and ingredients of the Dip are: first, beans; second, cheese; third, chopped tomatoes; fourth, the gift of sour cream; fifth, olives; sixth, salsa; seventh, guacamole, that is, if you have it.

5. We believe that a Mormon should have a distinguished or a cute name, that it's appropriate to name a child after a church leader or a historical figure including an ancestor, that alternative spellings and French prefixes only add to a name, and that when referring to the names of General Authorities, middle initials should be a part thereof.

6. We believe in the same wall decor that exists in many Mormon homes, namely, framed family proclamations, vinyl lettering, inspirational word signs, family photos, pictures of temples and Jesus, and so forth.

7. We believe in the gift of re-gifting, church books, crafts, family photos, baked goods, emergency supply kits, and so forth.

8. We believe in sparkling grape juice -- so long as it is nonalcoholic; we also believe in bringing root beer and sprite to ward and all other parties.

9. We believe in all that we have scrapbooked, all that we will now scrapbook, and we believe that we will yet scrapbook many great and important things pertaining to our family, friends, pets, and vacations.

10. We believe in the literal mixing of ketchup and mayo and in the generous application of ranch dressing; that CBAs (church-based acronyms) will be used to describe YM/YW, PEC, the Y, NCMO, and CTR; that Mitt Romney will get Mormons to vote for him any time he runs; and, that the Mormons will enjoy reading Twilight and The Work and the Glory.

11. We claim the privilege of trying to identify common acquaintances with any visitor at church, and allow all other people at church the same privilege; we also believe in name dropping the names of famous people and general authorities how, where, or what we may.

12. We believe in being subject to scoutmasters, pampered chef hostesses, and the writers of the U.S. News and World Report Rankings for professional schools, and in obeying, honoring, and sustaining Glenn Beck.

13. We believe in being above average, good at crafts, optimistic, and being fifteen minutes late everywhere we go. Indeed, we may say that we follow BYU football. We believe rumors about famous people joining the church, we hope to meet the three Nephites, we have endured many pyramid schemes, and hope to be able to endure all pyramid schemes. If there is anything cheap, free, sold in bulk, or given away when somebody is moving, we seek after these things.

Elf Yourself

It just wouldn't be Christmas without Elf Yourself.
Merry Christmas!!
Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Fall, Pumpkins and Halloween

I am getting so close to being caught up. Nate and Leah love the leaves, they spent hours outside one day building as big of a pile as they could. They were so cute, and both wanted action shots of them jumping in the leaves.
My sister brought the kids some good child sized pumpkins, and for family night we carved them. They each got to draw their faced on their pumpkins. Abby has a kitty, Nate a vampire, and Leah chose a silly face with its tongue sticking out.

For Halloween we had a Lion, Geisha girl, and Leah as she called it was a princess with letters. (the words on her shirt combined with her tu-tu I guess!) They were so cute, and got more candy then I could have imagined. Rich grew out his hair for at least 3 month just for this day. He had many people stop us while trick-or-treating and ask if that was really all his hair. He laughed and said yes. He wasn't going to do it, but at the last minute his dad convinced him, and his family quickly had him shaved and had gel in his hair. It was quite a sight. Our bishop, who is bald saw him and said "wow, what would it be to have that much hair!" We all got a good laugh.
Here is all the cute kids before we headed out to do our trick-or-treating. When one chooses a costume, it usually ends up that we have doubles, which we love. All the little grandmas and grandpas couldn't resist just filling their buckets for them. They were to cute to resist!

Leah's First Birthday Party

Leah was invited to her first birthday party. It was for her favorite cousin Emily. They went to Build A Bear, and it was so cute to watch how excited they were for each little thing.
They are making their wishes for their bunnies. Then to the bathing station. They had their bunnies all fluffed and washed!

They were so cute the entire time. Here is Leah with "Sleeping Beauty" She absolutely loves her, and can't go far without her. Bunny has to be dressed and have shoes at all times, and sleeps right next to Leah every night. It was a fun party, Thanks Emily!

Bath Time

I was making dinner one night and I heard the water running in the bathroom. I finished up what I was doing, and walked into the bathroom and this is what I found. Abby had filled up the tub and bathed both Nate and Leah. I walked in when she was washing Leah's hair. I was surprised that she would do it without even being asked, but it helped me so much. I love that she enjoys helping me. It was so cute, and I was so proud of her.

Santa Video

This is the cutest website. Check it out. Santa sends a special message to your kids, and even mentions them by name! My kids were ecstatic to see if Santa really knew what they wanted for Christmas, and when he really did, it sealed the deal! Merry Christmas!!


http://portablenorthpole.tv/home/