Eve's Doll House

Santa gave Eve this adorable doll house with several people and furniture to fill the home. Santa's elves were able to find this special gift for such a deal! Eve has enjoyed playing with the house and I have even heard Luke playing with her.

I think this will be a great way for Eve and I to play this winter while her siblings are at school. I can't wait!

Christmas

Merry Christmas! Santa was able to find us in Wisconsin without any trouble even though we don't have a chimney. (The children were very concerned about the lack of a chimney with our new house.) Santa covered each of the children's piles of gifts with a sheet before he left. Each child unveiled their pile one at a time so that we could all see what the other had gotten in an orderly manner. (And so that I could get their little sweet expressions when they first saw what Santa left for them.) Just look at how happy they are!

Miriam was so excited to see her gifts that she forgot to zip her pajamas back up. Sorry for the brief nudity.

The kids got to play with their Santa gifts for a little while before we had to get dressed and go to Church. After Church we opened the rest of the gifts that were under the tree.

Morgan was so excited to get this pen from his sister Kristen that has "Dr. Morgan Fife"on it.

We love the quilt that Kristen made for us. It is so warm and perfect for our chilly nights watching TV in the basement.

Morgan got one of my favorite trilogies in hardback for me. Can't wait for these movies!

Morgan enjoying his new slippers.

Everyone so happy to be opening gifts.

Luke got a Target gift card from the Fife grandparents. He was so excited to have his own gift card to buy anything he wanted.

Dad got the kids special little presents this year. For Luke he found a Batman Lego person.

Clothes aren't that much fun to open when you are a kid unless you are Luke.

This year I made each of the children (except Jane) a felt play mat. Luke's is Batman related.

Miriam has a new cell phone...and Eve has one very similar. A new necessity in our home full of girls.

Grandma Fife sent this beautiful ballerina dress for Miriam. She LOVES it.

Dad's special gifts to Miriam and Eve were their own mustangs. The girls' mustangs have princesses on them!

Mustangs are huge in our house. When driving down the road it is fun to hear the kids point out all the mustangs they see. Daddy would love to have one when we finish residency.

Miriam's felt princess mat.

Miriam gave Eve a little Ariel doll that she is holding. Miriam has an Ariel and now the constant battle over Ariel has been resolved.

Eve and her mittens from Aunt Kristen.

Eve's town play mat. It includes places that we like to shop/eat at as well as both grandparents homes, the temple and Church. Wouldn't it be a dream come true if we really lived that close to all those things?

Pretty dresses from Grandma Fife.

Jane got to open presents a while after everyone else did since she was taking a nap. Miriam is such a great big sister and helped her unwrap her gifts. Diapers from Maw Maw!

A fun musical toy from Grandma.

Another fun toy!

Jane and all her presents.

That smile says it all! We had an incredible Christmas. Thank you Grandma & Grandpa Fife, & Maw Maw & Paw Paw for all the great gifts. Thank you Great-Grandma Willardson for the breakfast money and Great Grandma & Grandpa Fife for the kids money. We feel so blessed!

We hope you all had wonderful Christmas' and may 2012 bring all the best blessings to you and your families!

Gingerbread Cookies

Each year we look forward to baking gingerbread cookies and decorating them as a family. I love the smell of the cookies baking. The kids always put a ton of candy on the cookies so it is fun getting to eat their designs later!

A Visit with Santa

Please pardon the direction of the photo. Blogger is not cooperating with me! Morgan's hospital had a Christmas party for all the employees children. The kids were able to sit on Santa's lap and as you can tell, everyone enjoyed it except Eve. Maybe next Christmas she will be in the holiday spirit! Anyway, the kids also got a gift from Santa. Luke got a set of police legos, Miriam a set of polly pockets, Eve a doll that says lots of phrases, and Jane a crib play set. These were incredible gifts! We decided to make them wait until Christmas to open them. I am so grateful for Morgan's employment and all the little perks that we have benefited from.

Sleeping Jane

Jane is such a sweetie. I just had to share this cute picture of her sleeping. I love that she was holding onto the ear part of her bunny hat. I wish you all could be here to hold and love this little girl. She really is a sweet baby and has started sleeping through the night. (I hope I am not jinxing it.) She is the first of all 4 kids to sleep through the night before turning a year old. She has started to laugh and loves to smile at us. I am so blessed to have her in our family.

Halloween Night

Take a look at our goodies this year:

Our children are very picky about their candy. I had them sort through their candy and make a pile of things they didn't like. We put that candy in a bowl and sent it to the hospital with Morgan to share with the other residents. The candy they were left with we put in a bag and if they eat their dinner then they can choose a treat.

Halloween night was kind of chilly so we only went up and down our street. The kids still got plenty of candy and we were able to get back in before too late. Hopefully Morgan won't have to work next Halloween and he can be a part of all the trick or treating.

Eve Turns 2

Where did the time go? Look at our little 2 year old Eve!

She always says "cheese" when you take her picture and squints her eyes.

Eve opening a card from Aunt Ashley.

Aunt Ashley included some money for Eve in the card. She wasn't too sure what to do with the cash but she will learn soon enough!

Since Eve always wants one of Miriam's barbies, she got her own this year!
A fun tracing book from Aunt Kristen.

In the hopes of inspiring her to potty train, she received a potty book.

Elmo Cake

There's our birthday girl ready for cake.

Eve is such a dynamic little person. She tries to do everything Luke and Miriam do. She loves her blanket and to twirl her hair while falling asleep. She says to Jane: "Hi Baby. How you?" Eve is our curly haired princess that sometimes is a drama queen. She loves her mama and is never far from me. She loves it when Daddy sings "Grand 'Ol Duke of York" and "Five Little Pumpkins." We love you Eve very much! Happy Birthday!

Ward Halloween Party

My children get their love of Halloween from their Daddy so when the Church announced the ward party was during the week that Morgan was working nights, I knew that I had to take them even if I had to do it alone.

Wonder Woman Miriam, Batman Luke and Tinker Bell Eve

And Pumpkin Jane
There were several carnival type games for the children to play. They really enjoyed playing and then choosing a prize. We scored lots of bouncy balls that night! One of the games was a coloring contest. I was so glad that the children decided to do this event because it kept them all in one place for a few minutes.

While Miriam and Eve finished coloring, Luke decided to try his turn at the doughnut eating contest. I was so impressed that he wanted to do this event because he is not a big doughnut eater. I think he just thought it was cool to try and eat something without using your hands.

Eve coloring away...

I had lots of help from the other ward members. I am so grateful to be in an area where people see a need (a crazy mom with 4 kids to watch after) and step in and help out. Eve was swept up later in the evening by some of our teenage babysitters. They carried her around and Eve just loved being the center of attention with them.

We came home exhausted and after eating a few treats headed to bed. Thank goodness the next day the kids were off from school. We needed the extra rest!