{Happy Holidays}

Our Christmas holiday definitely was Happy!  We are always sad when we are unable to spend the holidays with family, but it was kind of nice to be in our own home Christmas morning.  Its a lot easier  not having to haul presents to and from Colorado or Kansas.  The kids woke up very early and couldn't wait to go downstairs to see if Santa had come!

 We realized after all the gift opening that it was the year of the balls:  football, basketball, ladder ball, bocce balls, ping pong balls, tether ball, four square ball, and 1 pink ball!  I love active toys!!!

 My "Super Hero's" are ready to take over cooking...

While Mya takes over the smoothie making!

There were two big surprises under the tree that the kids were excited about.  The first was the tetherball set from Ge & Grandad, mainly because it came in a huge box!  They were sure that it was a flat screen t.v. for their room!

The other big surprise was the Wii that our neighbors gave us!  Drew could hardly contain himself when he opened up that box!  He has been asking for one for years, however Kenny and I aren't excited about video games, so we never bought one.  He's lucky to have such great neighbors!

It always amazes me how messy the room gets in just minutes Christmas morning!  Its like a tornado went through the room!

 Our afternoon was spent playing with all the new toys!!!

I loved playing tether ball as a kid and was kind of good at it!  I impressed my boys when I played them and "stomped all over them!"

Its our family tradition to spend several evenings traveling around town looking for the best Christmas lights.  This was the winner:

The picture doesn't even come close to showing all the lights that danced on and off to the Christmas music playing.  Cars were lining the streets to get out and see the festive display!

I am grateful for all the fun we had this Holdiay season, but i was most grateful to teach our children about the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ!  He is the reason for the season and I hope my kids always remember that.

{Surgery Day}

 Another day at work with Kenny!  He knew the boys would like seeing the mysterious object removed from the dogs intestines, so we rushed down to the clinic to watch is mad Dr. Skills!  We took bets on what the dog had eaten.  We were all surprised to see.....

Dr. Summers at it again!

A Yellow Angry Bird Toy!

 I felt sorry for the owners having to pay a costly Veterinary bill for a stupid foreign object ingested...i knew their pain!!!

 The kids just pretending to be dogs...its what they do at an animal hospital!

The dog had a full recovery and went home on Christmas Day!

Lesson to us all...again...do not stick things in your mouth or ears that don't belong there!

{Creativity}

Our Christmas Break Crafts!

 Reindeer by Drew, Snowman by Ian, Santa Hand by Owen, and Christmas Tree by Mya!

Gingerbread houses were constructed and devoured!!!

Mya and Elliot dug right in!

I am looking forward to a fun Christmas break with my kids at home.  I'm hoping to relax and spend a lot of time in my pajamas!

{BYU - Poinsettia Bowl}

Whether old or young, the Summers Boys are in love with BYU football!  Kelly, aka Grandpa Summers, has been a long time fan!  He has successfully passed on his love for the Cougars, from one generation to the next.

When Kenny found out that BYU would be playing San Diego State in the Poinsettia Bowl this year, Kenny decided to get tickets to the game as a Christmas present for his dad and our boys.

Enjoying their $50 pizza...yikes!

 All of the boys had a great time and cheered on the Cougars to a 23 - 6 victory!

Mya was very glad to see grandpa too!  She helped him to "clean" his face in the morning!

 We took grandpa down to the church gym to play basketball.   

It was a quick visit with Kelly, since he had to get home for Christmas, but we had a great time with him here!  We are so grateful that Kelly came out to see us....and the football game!

{Service}

We are always encouraging our children to live a Christ like life.  We try to instill in them the act of service and when you see a person in need, to reach out to them, and give them a hand.  We also ask in our prayers to help us finds ways to serve others.  I never really know if what we are teaching our children is sinking in, but today I was shown that it is!

As I dragged my four children inside the post office, an elderly woman was trying to balance two big boxes on her hip as she shut her car door.  She almost dropped the boxes and Ian ran up to her and took one of the boxes.  He said, "Can I help you?"  She smiled and thanked him and followed him to the door.  He then held the door open for her and followed her inside.  He stood by her the whole time she was in line and even after she handed the boxes over to the postal man.  He waited with her until she had paid her money and looked up at her and said, "Thank you for letting me help you and Merry Christmas!"

I was beaming and tried to hold back tears at the sweet compassion my seven year old son showed for this woman.  I had never been so proud of him.  I told him how happy he made me, the woman, and most importantly Jesus!  He acted embarrassed, but still had a smile from ear to ear!  Ian set such a wonderful example for all of us who observed his Christ like love!

{Family Photos}

Its that time of year again to take our family photos.  I have a love/hate relationship with them!  Every year I tell myself I will do better next year and will start deciding on outfits earlier than the week before we plan to take them.  I also tell myself I will get them done in October, rather than procrastinating until the 2nd week of December and rushing to get cards made and worrying about the colder weather.  And then I always tell myself, to just relax, that taking pictures is fun, and to not nag at the children and Kenny to smile!  I have a picture in my head how I want them to turn out, thanks to pinterest, but some how our family never quite fits that mold! 

Well I did it again!  We just took our pictures last week and thankfully it was still warm, but I was definitely stressed out about it again this year.  An hour and a half before we were to meet with Darcy to take our pictures, I realized as I was ironing clothes, and before I had even started getting my hair or make-up done, that I completely forgot to find clothes for Drew!  How does a mother forget her first born child....I blame it on lack of sleep, due to these four children!  I immediately started to panic and started texting friends to see if they had anything for Drew to wear!  Luckily, my friends Crissa and Sandra came to my rescue!  Not only did they find something for Drew, they revamped all of my outfits!  I was pleased with the changes and am so grateful for amazing friends, who know just how to help!

 Drew HATES taking pictures and complains about it the whole time, Kenny is not much better about it than Drew!  I bribe them through the whole photo session!  Ian on the other hand is a ham and lives for the camera!

 This  boy loves to give kisses right now and requests to kiss me 100 times a day!  He's so sweet how could I ever turn down his request!

Andrew - 9

Ian - 7

Owen - 5

Mya - 3

Johanna (mom) - 32 & Kenny (dad) - 37

The boys were done by this picture, but Mya still needed her individual pictures.  So we sent the boys on their way home.  Darcy spent some time taking some pictures of Mya and I, which I love!

 My little girl is growing up way to fast!  I wish I could stop time and keep her this age forever!

Even though I find the whole picture taking experience stressful, I always LOVE the finished product!  We might not be like the "model" families on pinterest, but I love us just the way we are, with all of our foibles!  I am the luckiest woman to have such a beautiful and loving family!   I will always treasure these photos as long as I live!  A huge thanks to my dear friend/photographer Darcy, for capturing this special time in our lives!

{GROSS}

Mya and I went to pick up Kenny for lunch and walked in to find him doing this:

I was disgusted and quickly asked, "What is that?"  Kenny nonchalantly replied, "Its her vagina."  

He acted like this happens everyday....no big deal!

 It was dying, so Kenny had to cut it off!  His work will never cease to AMAZE Me!

Mya was eager to watch, not grossed out at all!  She acted like it was no big deal and kept saying, "Its just China!"  

I asked Kenny how this happened and his boss quickly jumped in and said, "It happens when you eat too much chocolate!"  If that were the case, all of us women would be walking around with our "China's"  hanging out!!!

{My little performers!}

This week we have been busy going from one performance to another!  Its been fun seeing my children singing and dancing.

 Mya had her first little dance recital in her class for the parents.  Each child was just asked to wear a Christmas dress and I thought a red tu-tu was much more appropriate for her first dance recital.  She looked adorable and made me so happy to have a little girl!

Ian's 2nd grade buddies!  Ian belted out some great Christmas music at his school program.  He is on the top row, fourth kid from the left, with a Santa hat on.  I zoomed in as close as I could!

 Ian has two teachers this year, Mrs. Griffin and Mrs. Talkington.  He loves them both!

 The Kindergartners of Sundance!  

They sang several Christmas songs and even sang, "Silent Night."  It surprised me that they sang a song in school about the birth of our Savior.  I was glad they did. 

 The Principal also stood up and said how much she loves all of these kids.  I love being apart of Sundance!

 Owen is the 3rd row from the bottom with a blue scarf around his neck.

Owen and his teacher Mrs. Randall!

I'm glad that the kids just finished their last day of school and that they are now home with us for the next two weeks to celebrate Christmas!