Merry Christmas

For those of you who I neglected to send our Christmas card to, here it is.

Dear Family and Friends,

This year for our family has been rather swell,

And we are hoping this year is finding you well.

It’s been a bumpy ride with lots of ups and downs,

But we’ve had far more smiles than there ever were frowns.

Corey is working on his Nurse Anesthetist Degree,

And when he’s done in a year we will all feel so free.

He’s been rotating in hospitals every few weeks,

Providing patient’s anesthesia from their toes to their cheeks.

From doctors to patients, he’s stretch oh so thin,

And when he gets home all he can do is just grin.

I have been just as busy with chasing my kin,

I always love bed time and tucking them in.

There is always time for a quick hug or kiss,

Even though sometimes I feel my days gone a-miss.

They bring me such joy and I love them so dearly,

I can’t believe they are getting bigger with each passing ‘yearly’.

Kellen started first grade and he loves his new class,

He does well in school and we know he will ‘pass’.

We had some excitement in early November,

When we learned his appendix would have to surrender.

He had it removed and recovered so quickly,

He didn’t spend too much time feeling so sickly.

Garrett is 3 and is a joy in our life,

He brings a smile to anyone’s day filled with strife.

He laughs and he giggles and he smiles so wide,

And he knows that life is truly a great ride.

Jane is 2 and is fiery sweet,

The fire helps her stand on her own two feet.

She is just sweet as sugar and always giving hugs,

She pulls on our heartstrings and gives great big tugs.

She adds so much to our family and we love having a girl,

She loves babies and dancing and to twirl and twirl.

We want to wish you happy holidays at this Christmas Season,

Our joy is so full and each of you is the reason.

Thanks for your friendship, support and your love,

We know we are blessed with power from above.

Merry Christmas. 

Love The Boren Family

What we've been up to...

It seems like life has been going in a crazy whirlwind lately, as it seems to do every year at this time.  We have been busy, here's what we've been up to

Opening packages 

Playing in the snow

Shoveling the snow-I say bring it on Buffalo-I'm lovin' it!  

(Maybe that's because I haven't actually shoveled any snow yet)

Sledding

Attempting to take pics of my kids-it wasn't working, so I figured if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.  This was their crazy face pic.  I especially love G's face.  This is what he does when he gets mad.

The one picture of J that actually partially turned out.  She is the hardest one to take pics of.

We found G sleeping in the most interesting places.

We also visited Chuckee Cheese

J waking up from her nap.  I wonder how can her hair really go like this while she's sleeping, but it does and when we tell her that her hair looks crazy she gets embarrassed.

We saw Santa, well, J actually shivered in my arms when i tried to have her see santa.

G was a different story.  He was wide eyed and ALL smiles the second Santa showed up.

We made gingerbread houses.  It was great.  the kids didn't fight and they all got along.

and lastly, we attended K's program.  It was so cute.  He was a monkey.

It has been a great month.

Two peas in a pod

My two little kiddo's J and G keep me running all day long.  I barely have time to catch my breath (as so many moms can relate). But having said that, they bring so much happiness into our home and I love what they both add to our family.

This was a recent conversation I caught (J was screaming and I ran up the stairs to see what was going on).

G- (said screaming at J)  'WHY DID YOU DO THAT! DO YOU THINK JESUS WANTS YOU TO SMASH MY FINGERS IN THE CD PLAYER?

J-  quickly responds in just as bitter tone 'NO!' (But only because she says no to everything right now)

G- 'DO MY FINGERS LOOK LIKE A CD?'

How can I not laugh at that.  They keep me going.  I just love these two.  They are two peas in a pod.

We were also at a friends house the other night. G came in crying.  I asked him what was wrong.  He said he fell off the toilet.  Yes, off the toilet.  I tried to hide me laughing, I was dying inside.  Poor kiddo.  He'll never want to use the toilet again.

He also managed to slam his wrist in the door yesterday.  He's got quite the mark to remind him.  How does someone slam their wrist in the door (or let alone fall off the toilet).  Leave it up to our little man.  Oohhh, I just love him!

Traditions

You know it' s been too long of a posting spell when I was trying too hard to recollect my password and username...

This year we aren't heading home for Christmas.  Sad news. We decided we spent so much time 'at home' in July and August that we would stay here.  We haven't been 100% stuck with this idea.  We have flipped flopped back and forth.  Weighing pros and cons of going or staying.  I guess we are staying.  Although I am sad we aren't going home and whenever I hear the song 'I'll be home for Christmas' it makes me even question our decision even more- I am really excited to introduce my own kids to some traditions that I grew up with and thought was so much fun.

First:

Christmas Crackers.  No, these aren't the kind you eat, but it's an English tradition.  They are wrapped (as pictured in the lovely picture above) and inside there are little treats/prizes and the best part a small little bang.  You pull two tabs and a little explosion takes place.  My Nana (who is from England) would put these on our plates for Christmas dinner.  We loved them.  There was always a paper mache crown inside-which you were expected to wear during dinner and there were other small things inside too. 

Next, present under the table.

There was a small hand written note with your name on it (that's how we knew where to sit) pinned to a ribbon the ribbon led to underneath your chair and when you were done eating, you would get to open your gift.  We were always so excited to see what our gift was Christmas dinner was gobbled up.

Christmas Eve-

This was the BEST in our house.  It wasn't the traditional sit down at the table with your finest china but rather, grab your hot dog roaster and cook dinner over the fire.  We would have hot dogs and smores on Christmas Eve and we loved it as kids. (On Christmas, my mom would do a nice traditional dinner, but she let Christmas Eve be for the kids and we couldn't have asked for a better night!)

Next, each of us would write notes to everyone in our family and tell them what we loved about them.  We would pull the notes from our stockings, each taking turns, and read them aloud.  When we read the note, the person who wrote it would give them their gift.  We loved doing this because we got a few little things to play with on Christmas Eve and it made the anticipation of Christmas even stronger.

When we were older on Christmas Eve, we would ALL sleep in one room.  Can you image FIVE kids all trying to sleep on Christmas eve? One of us would wake up nearly every 20 minutes asking the next person 'what time is it' and 'when can we get up'.  

I think traditions are what bind families together. 

 Living in Utah, we haven't had the opportunity to start any of our own traditions, because we were usually at our parents house (which we ALSO loved). 

Although this year will be a little different, we will be able to create memories for our kids that hopefully will carry on through the years.

I would love to hear what traditions you have...feel free to share, but no dissin' on the roasting hotdogs over the fire :)