Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas Family and Friends!

Well, we made it through the year, and the world didn’t end. What a relief!  We hope that 2012 has been a great year for you and your family. We have had our shares of ups and downs, but as we reflect on this past year, we would like to focus on the ups, and express gratitude to a merciful Father in Heaven for our many blessings, and especially for our love and friendship with you.

JANUARY - We rang in the new year with Brooklynn taking a community dance class. She had so much fun, and was so cute.  McKenna decided she wanted to play basketball, so she joined a city league and had a blast.  The highlight (probably lowlight) for us was when Michelle and I were almost ejected from one of McKenna’s games for arguing with the ref.

FEBRUARY - Lauren shared the lead role in her school play, Doc Doc Goose.  She did a great job and had a blast. Tyler was invited to play on the Utah County All-Star football team which was made up of the best players from schools in Orem and Provo. He had a back injury from snowboarding that kept him out about half of the games, but his team won the State Championship.  We also added two rabbits to our little backyard farm (we already have one dog, six chickens and a hive of bees)

MARCH - Lauren was awarded the Alpine School District’s Golden Apple award which goes to one girl and one boy from each school. Lauren was recognized for her good grades and volunteer work with special needs children.  Chris was called to the High Council. It keeps him pretty busy, but he is loving every minute of it.  Michelle is still serving as the Primary President and she is even more busy than Chris!

APRIL - Lauren took up Volleyball. She has a natural talent for it and did really well.  Much to our dismay, Chris found out that his beehive died and we would not have honey this year.  Michelle and the kids took a quick trip to Washington and Oregon to visit family during Spring break.

MAY – A blur of end of school parties and programs. You will have to read our blog as there are too many to list.

JUNE - McKenna and Brooklynn both decided to try out baseball. Brooklynn did T-Ball, and McKenna did coach pitch. And proving that they got all their athletic ability from their mother, they both hit better than most of the boys on their team.

JULY - We added four ducklings to our little family farm.  We enjoyed lots of family time in Idaho with Dad and other  family.

AUGUST - Our two bunnies somehow became 10, when we got eight of the cutest little bunnies you ever saw. We kept one of them, and were lucky enough to have found a home for the other seven. We also found out that McKenna has Celiac disease, which is a severe allergic reaction to gluten. We discovered it when the doctor informed us that she had not grown at all in the past year. It’s a huge lifestyle change, but so far it we have managed just fine.

SEPTEMBER - School started. Tyler in 9^th grade, Lauren in 7^th, McKenna in 4^th, and Brooklynn in 1^st. Tyler played Outside Linebacker on the Sophomore Football team for Orem High School. He had a great time.

OCTOBER –  A blur of football games, harvesting our garden, Halloween, and Primary programs.

NOVEMBER - Lauren joined another Volleyball team. This one was more competitive, but she learned tons and had a great time.  We sold the Ducks after realizing they were too messy, noisy and ate too much food.

DECEMBER - Tyler decided to take up wrestling to keep in shape in the off-season. He says it is harder than football by a long way, but he loves it, and though he had never wrestled before, he already has won one tournament.

If you made it this far then you are to be commended. We live a pretty boring life. Like we said, we’ve had our downs this year, but these are just the ups. We want you all to know that we love you, and hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Wrap-up...in exactly three pictures.

Ya, I didn't take pictures this year. Christmas has come and gone but I better document it before I forget. We spent Christmas in Idaho with Grandpa Gleed and Uncle Jason. It was such a relaxing weekend with no plans, nothing to do and nowhere to go. We didn't have any snow so we just hung out, ate, watched movies, ate some more, watched football, ate some more and watched more movies. Things were VERY low-key.

Saturday (Christmas Eve) we ran some last minute errands, made meal preparations for the next day, baked Santa some cookies and got ready for the big day. Before bed, McKenna set out cookies and Hot Cocoa for Santa, carrots for the reindeer and sprinkled more reindeer food (oatmeal & glitter) on the front lawn so the reindeer could guide Santa to our house. Then Grandpa read the Christmas Story from the Bible. After reading, the kids got to open their traditional Christmas Eve present, new PJ's! I couldn't talk Tyler into footed pj's so I was a little bummed about that. He's not quite at the age yet where it is cool again to be silly. It took a while for the kids to go to sleep but eventually we got there and everyone was in bed and asleep by 1:00am.The next morning the kids actually slept in and we had to wake THEM up! We had to leave for church by 8:45 so we had to get going. After opening gifts we got ready for church where Grandpa was one of the speakers. He did a great job, but then, he always does. He has a gift for speaking. Then we came home and relaxed.

Lauren worked really hard on this cute poster she made for Chris and I. I loved that it was so thoughtful and something she did all on her own.
We really enjoyed our Christmas break this year. There wasn't any snow which was a bummer but we managed. Chris had the day off before Christmas Eve through Monday, Jan. 2nd from his day job so it was really nice having him home for such a long period of time. Probably, part of what made it so nice was that for Christmas, Chris gave me a week off from all household responsibilities. Fun for me, not so much for him. He was a trooper though and took care of everything, kids, cooking, meal planning, cleaning, shopping, laundry, animals, fighting, bathing, errands, etc. For a WHOLE WEEK! It was really nice to just do what I wanted to do and know that someone else was taking care of things. I think he was a little less depressed to go back to work today than he might otherwise have been. :0)

So Christmas is packed up for another year. I am looking forward to a fresh start. There is just something refreshing about starting a new year. I have a good feeling about 2012.

Christmas Fun

There is something so magical and peaceful about a Christmas tree. I love to have just the glow of the tree, the smell of something Christmas-y in the air and Christmas music playing in the background. Brooklynn loves to play by the tree with the ornaments. She takes them off and creates little scenes and makes up little stories. She'll play by herself there for a good hour or more when the older kids are all at school.
I had two school Christmas parties last week for Brooklynn and McKenna. It was a crazy day and I had three different kids throw up between the two parties! Not my fault by the way. Anyway, I did a Polar Express theme for McKenna's party and for one station we had "snowball" fight with socks. I rolled up 145 socks! The kids had a lot of fun with that.

Chris and I celebrated 19 years on the 19th! Unfortunately, I spent the day in bed sick with a stomach bug.
We headed to the Riverwoods to visit Santa and take a carriage ride. We LOVE the Riverwoods Santa, he is/was the best! This year though, a different Santa was there. He was fine though. Honestly, it was so cold we were like "Hi Santa", sit, take picture and leave!
After visiting Santa we waited in line for the carriage ride. We haven't been in several years and while the kids seemed to love it, it wasn't worth the wait. We waited outside in 25 degree weather for nearly an hour for a five minute ride around the parking lot! They used to have a really beautiful carriage just the right size for a family. Now they have a carriage/covered wagon that seats about 10-12 people...not as cozy or personal. They used to take you through the outdoor mall to see all the lights. Now you get the backside of the mall and it is pretty lame.
The driver was really nice though and let the girls pet the horse. That might have been the highlight of the evening.
We made some cute reindeer cookies. I didn't have the right m&m's for the eyes but they still turned out cute.
I took McKenna and Brooklynn to the mall today for a Winter Princess Festival. While there, Santa was sitting all alone without any kids. Can you image? So the girls stopped by to say hi and remind him of the things they wanted this year.
We checked out a new show this year at the mall. It was an interactive play. You move from room to room with the scenes and the characters involved the kids. They really enjoyed it.

Here the princesses read the kids a story while we waited for the show to begin.
I didn't take any pictures in the first two rooms but we started off at the base of a large mountain and then walked through a dark tunnel to reach the North Pole. There we met a royal family with elf-like ears. They told the kids some stories and taught them how to curtsey and bow.

They had the kids help decorate the tree

Then they sang songs and taught them a little dance. They danced all around the room with the actors.
Afterwards they moved to another room and gave them a little treat and sent them on their way.

This was one of the princesses

After the princess festival I left all the kids home and ran off to spend time with my adorable new niece, sweet little Ivy Noelle!! It was a glorious afternoon visiting with my sister and holding a precious new baby.
Only two more days til Christmas. I think I might make it!

Merry Christmas!!

Dear Family & Friends,

Wow, another year has past. It can best be summed up in two words: We survived!

We won’t rehash all the wonderful details, as you have likely read about our comings and goings on our blog http://fourinthenest.blogspot.com. And if you haven’t followed us on our blog, then you probably won’t want to read about it here anyway.

But just a quick recap if you insist:

Michelle continues to be the hardest working woman in the world, juggling the rowdiest bunch of kids this side of the Pecos; wrangling chickens and a dog; keeping the PTA budget in the black; and keeping the Primary afloat.

I (Chris) am still working twelve hour days at two jobs (going on four years now) so I don’t have much time for anything. I spend my only free day of the week (Saturday) doing things with the family, so all of you who keep inviting me to hunting parties and poker nights, don’t be offended if I turn you down. I recently found the hobby of beekeeping, or rather, the bees found me. (read about it on the blog).

Tyler (13) is steadily pursuing his goal of playing football in the NFL. He had another great season, and was invited to play on an invitation-only “super league” this spring. If that doesn’t pan out, he is wisely using his time in school to perfect his talking abilities, so he will likely have a bright future as a talk-show host or radio announcer.

Lauren (11) is pursuing her career in drama at home and on the stage. She is currently rehearsing for her lead role in Doc Doc Goose (it’s an off-Broadway play). She pays for her acting lessons by babysitting in the evenings and weekends. She is full of life, and curiosity, and can be counted on to create a play or skit at the drop of a hat.

McKenna (8) is turning out to be an expert chicken wrangler, and if you can’t find her, it’s a sure bet she’s outside with the chickens squeezing their guts out. She loves to draw and create things, and her many creations adorn the walls and hallways of our home. She was baptized this past year (read about it in the blog), and is preparing to hit the court for basketball in January.

Brooklynn (5) is still the baby of the family in every sense of the word. She likes being spoiled by everyone, and is currently working on an evil plan to create robot parents who would take care of her siblings so she doesn’t have to share us with them. She turned out to be a great little soccer player this year, and loves to do anything her older sisters do.

We’ll that’s us in a nutshell. We hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas, and a Happy New Year. We treasure all of our relationships and friendships, and hope 2012 is a great year for you all.

Love the Gleeds

Here is our "virtual" card this year. Just click on the card. It will take a few seconds to load but will be bigger.

(If you get this via email & FB just know that you are really loved! I am just trying to cover all my bases with family and friends.)

Mele Kalikimaka

Our ward had a Christmas dinner this weekend with a Hawaiian theme. We had a group from our Stake come and cook a great meal and provide entertainment and dancing. It made Chris and I really homesick for Hawaii. It was really fun getting to dress up in our aloha shirts, muumuus and leis. Santa even came on his way home from his vacation in Hawaii to the North Pole.

McKenna was very impressed that Santa knew she had chickens and asked if she was taking good care of them. Wow, Santa, You're Good!

Brooklynn told Santa to just "bring her a surprise". Well that makes it easy, doesn't it?!

In other Christmas-y news, we got the tree up and the house completely decorated by December 1st.

And, the girls did a smashing rendition of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, complete with costumes.
McKenna the Elf, Lauren as Santa with a very "hairy" beard, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Brooklynn!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

...everywhere you go. We've got almost all the decorations up, the lights are up, the tree is up and will be decorated later today, the stockings are hung and we are trying to get into the spirit of Christmas. It's weird though because we've been having such nice weather it doesn't seem that Christmas-y yet.

For the past 4 or 5 years we have been meaning to get up to Salt Lake to see the lights at Temple Square. But, we just get busy and don't ever make it so this year we decided to get it done early. Actually, too early. We went on Thanksgiving evening and they didn't start until the day AFTER Thanksgiving. However, in our defense, the idiot on the news said they would be on Thanksgiving evening and we weren't the only ones either. Anyhow, we decided to try again on Saturday.

It was so beautiful. We walked around the Conference Center, through the visitor's centers and around Temple Square. The weather was pretty nice too, cold, but nice. The last time we were up there was when Brooklynn was almost a year old and we nearly froze to death. We took lots of pictures but my phone doesn't take very good pictures. I am almost embarrassed to post them here but hey, it's my blog and these really are the only documentation I have.

The reflecting pond is so pretty with the temple in the background reflecting in the water and all the tiny floating lights.

It's a Christmas miracle that Tyler actually let me take some pictures of him.

McKenna in front of the big, lighted tree.

Chris and I (Chris got lost in the lights)

Lauren, Brooklynn & McKenna

Brooklynn with the big, lighted star.

This was a picture of the lights with the moon and a star in the background. The moon was just an orange sliver, low in the sky. There was a huge star just to the left of it and it was so beautiful above the lights. You can't see it very well though.

The kids (McKenna, Tyler, Lauren, Brooklynn) before it got too dark.

The Salt Lake Temple doors.

In front of the reflecting pond before the lights were turned on.
(McKenna, Brooklynn, Tyler, Lauren)

Christmas

Christmas sure did come around quickly this year. I swear it was just Christmas a few months ago. This year we spent it at home with just our little family. We really have only done that a handful of times in 18 years of marriage. We always seem to spend it with family. So it seemed kind of quiet and like any other day. On Christmas Eve we went and saw Tangled. SUCH A CUTE MOVIE!! Then we headed to Cupcake Chic for some cupcakes. (Remember, they are my favorite!) Then, after making too many trips to the store for forgotten things, we settled in for the traditional reading of the Christmas Story from the Scriptures and the opening of PJ's. After leaving some cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, we packed the kids off to bed.

Santa managed to stop by even though I felt like we were all a little more on the naughty side this year than nice.

Lauren didn't get a pillow pet so she just had to make do. (Just for the record, she didn't want one)

Roxy thoroughly enjoyed her present from Grandma and Grandpa. Thanks! It kept her busy for almost a whole week!

Chris made a traditional yule log from scratch for Christmas dinner. Nice work Chris!

Ward Breakfast

Early in December we had our annual Ward Breakfast at church. Because I am in the Primary, I am in charge of the presentation of the Nativity story. We have the kids dress up, read the story from the Bible and sing some Christmas songs. Lauren and McKenna were angels this year and Brooklynn was a sheep.
Aren't those sheep heads the cutest things ever! Well, Chris HATES them and can't stand that we use them every year, but hey, new sheep costumes are not in the budget! He asks me every year if I can't do something different...like ask my sister Lisa to crochet sheep costumes for the whole Jr. Primary...just kidding! Lisa...I really am kidding...DO NOT send me costumes! Chris is NOT kidding, but don't you dare! I laugh every year because I think they are so ridiculous it's a long-standing joke now. The kids don't care and every year someone comments on how cute the sheep look. So HA! Take that.
And if I may toot my own horn here. Take a look at that AMAZING wooden manger I built. Yup, I got up at 6:30am to build that because I was sick of using the pink baby cradle. Every well-respected nativity reenactment needs a decent manger, right? Right! So I literally couldn't sleep worrying about the lack of a decent manger so I woke up early and built one. I didn't really think anything of it until everyone kept saying how impressed they were.
The kids all did a great job and I was so proud of them. The absolute best part of the whole thing was when it was all over and the kids were still on stage and Santa walks in yelling "HO HO HO". One of our little 4-year olds screams and runs off the stage. She is terrified of Santa. It was so cute.

Here are our kids with Santa
Tyler...who asked for a Ken doll. This is his super cheesy smile while he is acting all goofy for Santa. That's what all the boys his age did. I told him I was going to blog about this and he better be happy when he found Ken under the tree with his name on it. Unfortunately, Santa forgot about his wish for a Ken doll.

Lauren who now thinks she is too old to be sitting on Santa's lap but is still a good sport. It paid off because she asked him for 20 Hershey Bars....although she didn't specify exactly what size and he brought the bite-size ones.

McKenna and Brooklynn who still look forward to Santa and every opportunity to remind him that they both asked for pillow pets. Fortunately for them, Santa goes by the name of cousin Vili and saves the day this year!