Cali Trip

After Christmas we headed to Dannys parents house in No. California. We drove straight through leaving at about 4 in the morning and getting there around i think 3 or so.. The kids did SOO GOOD...... on the way there.... They didn't really know what was going on so they couldn't complain.. but thank heaven for the DVD players in the car. Talk about a life savor... man.. no wonder why Greg and I use to fight constantly in the car when we would drive... then again.. we still do fight. so they must not of been the problem. lol. ANYWAYS. Good times.. It was good we had a week before the trek back home.

Here's Colby and Josie layin' on the ground together.. Dont let this photo fool you.. Colby isn't one to sit still he's basically a monkey, nearly walking and definatly has the crawling down.. he's only about 6 months old or so in this pic. Josie is a lazy roller... but is getting more and more determined and knows if she wants to survive she must roll away from Kelli.

What would a family get together be like with out playing the Wii.. Tyler stands there with Dave and strums his guitar as long as Dave is doing that... I wish Kelli would do that. Kelli is like me, gets bored REALLY fast.

I know what you're thinking about this AMAZING photo below... We were driving and I was bored so I took this through the windshield at the MTN's infront of me. I'll tell you what.. my windshield is NEVER as clean as it was on this trip, because of the weather, we were constantly cleaning it.... either that or I have some mad camera skills.... I must have mad skills.. right??!?

Christmas Extended

I know its taken me long enough to finish blogging about Christmas and everyone is over Christmas.... but back off. On Christmas night my Grandma and Grandpa Anderson and my Uncle Paul and his kids came over for dinner. It was so good to see my cousins because they live in Texas. We also got to enjoy playing the "bells" that my dad made many years ago that everyone just loves.... especially when ALL the kids have to have a turn and the bells are just being rung none stop.... (kind of annoyning...) It was so much fun though and the kids had a lot of fun... After we played Rock back, Danny took Kelli sledding at the park near my parents house and I was with Josie helping get things ready at my parents.

Below are pics of Kelli and Josie in their PJ's given to them by my parents. My parents gave all the kids new PJ's.. Kelli and Josie look SOOOO exhausted. As they should of been.. we didn't open presents with "everyone" til about 6 or so at night.... YIKES.

All the kids in my parents basement.... happy day.... they just LOVE everyone yelling, "SMILE" I wish someone was filming all the parents trying to get them all the look at us and smile... hilarious!

Sorting all the presents... its a dirty job but someones gotta do it... children and piles were everywhere but I think all and all... it went well.. we just had all the kids open their presents first and then we had them go in the game room and play while we opened our presents. haha. What good parents are we??! Open your presents and LEAVE!

Christmas Morning

This was Christmas morning. Kelli was so excited... Danny and I woke up at like 7 or maybe even before and we were so excited and waiting for our kids to wake up and of coarse they both sleep in til like almost 9.... I've never been more anxious for them to wake up... I wish they would sleep in more often!! Isn't it so funny that kids always want to put bows on their heads? Kelli put one on her head and then we put one on Josie's so they were the same.
Before opening presents... Kelli waiting on the chair by daddy... And notice the HUGE push pop from the stocking that she's always opened.. She loves those things and kept it with her the majority of the day til I found it and hid it from her! Its so sticky...

Kelli opened her baby doll that Santa brought her. She just loves the doll and loves that she can bring it in the tub with her..

Ryan and Amber and the boys came over and we all played Rock Band. Nothing brings in the holiday spirit like rockin' out to some rock songs...

On Christmas morning my parents came over for a little bit to watch Kelli and Josie open some presents, and then we were able to talk to Danny's brother Eric who is serving a mission in Brazil. It was so good to hear from him, and it just made us miss him so much more. I can't wait for him to come home in June.

Christmas Eve (out of order pics)

For Christmas Eve we went over to my parents house for dinner. Greg was up from Cali, and Steven and Shaundee were able to join us even though it wasn't our year, which was a nice treat. Michelle and her family were at Serges parents, and Ryan and Amber were at her parents. Danny made a wonderful stuffed steak. (stuffed with spinach, procuitto, red peppers, parm cheese, and more..) Its my favorite. Then there were some yummy sides to go along with it. Christmas time is so much fun especially when you get to be with your family.


Lyza and Kelli making a gingerbread house..... Kelli is eating the candy and Lyza is decorating.. THATS MY GIRL!
Papa reading "twas the night before Christmas"

Steven using modern technology to read Luke 2.. what would we do without I Phones??? Well, for one thing someone would of had to walk all the way upstairs to get a set of scriptures....

Playing "Jingle Bells" with Grandpas bell set that he made.

The 4 little kids that were loving having to sit still for stories... lol. Clearly Josie is wondering why all of a sudden Kelli is allowed to hold her without an adult being right at her side.... doesn't she look so scared??!!

Lyza and Kelli so excited about their new P.J.'s

Kelli and Lyza excited to sit at the table and have fancy dishes and goblets to drink from... meanwhile, I was scared Kelli was going to drop it and break one of my moms glasses... not so exciting....

Danny's MASTERPIECE.... complete with red peppers as a garnish and all....

Mothers Table decorating.... B. E. A. utiful

Playing in the snow

Danny took Kelli to play in our backyard one day and she loved it. I dont know how much she remembered from last year but she was so excited and I think knew it was going to be a blast. She was a lot more agile in the snow than last time which made for less tears! Which was more fun for me!!! What was also exciting, is that she still fit into everything from last year.. (coat, boots, jacket....) She had so much fun.. they threw snowballs at each other, threw snow up in the air, ran around and tackeled each other, and made snow angels, etc... She trys to make snow angels everywhere now!
Running in the snow (above) Throwing snow in the air with Daddy (below)

Mom coming around the corner with that dang camera again.... (thats what Kelli is thinking I'm sure of it)

Getting ready to take on the snow....

Tiny Dancer

Kelli had her first Dance Recital on December 4th. She did so good... she was so excited to get out there. She had a little 'teddy bear for christmas' routine, and then the whole group did 'The Grinch!' She loved every second of it.. before the dance started all the girls were crying and she said.."its ok guys.. lets just be happy!" After her first dance was over.. she said.."mom, I wanna do that again!" I told her good cause she needed too! After the dance Danny surprized her with flowers that just made her so proud! Danny and I were beaming cause she actually did it, and looked like she knew exactly what she was suppose to be doing in the routine.


Danny giving her flowers... Awwww....
My lil' WHOO Dancing in the front/middle

Doing her "GRINCH" fingers....

Her Teddy Bear routine. SO cute! (4th from the left)

(2nd from the right)

Before the big group Grinch routine, she had a little "who children" routine, but whoever was in charge of the camera was taking pics of the wrong girl.... haha. Luckly I have it on video camera. Thanks Lee family and Mom and Dad for coming and supporting Kelli. Dancing at 2 1/2.. she's awesome! (little bias? I think not......)

Christmas Tree

This year we went to a local tree farm to pick out a tree. I just love having a real tree, it keeps your house smelling so yummy! Kelli wanted to the biggest tree there.. and we thought we found a good size tree and put it on the car and came home... when we were trying to find a spot we didn't realize how huge it was. haha. It is so pretty and I just love it. I LOVE Christmas time.

Kelli getting ready to go find her tree!

Danny was attaching it to our car. We were worried it wasn't going to stay.. no offense to his abilities, but there's that small chance!

TA-DA! And there it is... this pic doesn't do it justice!

It was a lot of fun putting all the bulbs on and other fun ornaments... Kelli prob broke more than actually made it to the tree that she was doing.. but thats ok, we had a lot of fun in the process!

Not a Hat lover

This picture says it all. When Kelli was little she had TONS of beenies, and loved them. I bought one for Josie and this is what she looks like the whole time she has it on, along with screaming at the top of her lungs! (which is really unusual!) I just thought this face was so funny so I thought I'd take a quick snap of it and document! LOVE IT!

LUCKY ME... REALLY!

Well, my brother Steven and his wife told us of this store that was going out of business in SLC, and that you could get like a cart full of stuff for like 100 bucks.. clothes, shoes, jackets, etc.. So, on Tuesday, we went with my parents to drop off Lyza and Seth to Shaundee and then make our way to this store. It wasn't 30 minutes in the store before Kelli decided she should go potty and I, of coarse, left the wipes in the car. I got the keys from Danny and went to go out to the car... and my paranoid mother said.."you can't go by yourself.. I'm going with you." I kind of rolled my eyes and thought... "whatever floats your boat.."

I get out to the car and I'm trying to hurry cause the wind is just blowing like crazy and she's laying in the back of our pilot and is just freezing. I went around the side of the car behind the drivers side to get the wipes and when I shut the door, I heard something fall. I didn't pay much attention and just ran around to the back and finished up. My mother who lives and thrives off of Murder She Wrote re-runs, and Matlock and all the other shows decided to investigate the noise... what did she find????

My driver side window BROKEN!!!! Yup... within 30 mintues some punk kid broke into my freakin' car. I was so pissed.. Honestly. How low do you have to be to bust into someones car? Well, I looked in real quick and couldn't see anything that was stolen so Danny and I switched and he stayed out there and waited for the police. While I was waiting inside my dad calls me and tells me that the PURSE I left on the floor was gone. I know what your thinking... how dumb do you have to be to leave your purse?? I just have one in there with a diaper and wipes and I think some MAC lip balm. Just so happens that day.. I used it to go to the store to get some food for dinner. Danny and I start calling the credit card companies while talking to the officer and getting an ear full.. (dont worry.. my big mouth gave it right back... he was cool though)
I walk around the passenger side where my purse was and opened the door and BEHOLD my wallet lurking in the dark. Poor suckers got away without my credit cards, but got a size 4 diaper and a thing of wet wipes... and of coarse my favorite purse that was givin to me. I am SO lucky. That was going to be the biggest pain ever to have to re do my licence and credit cards. I've learned my lesson though.

But here goes my big mouth again.. I NEVER leave it in the front. Its usually in the back but we had 8 people PILED into our car and I was all the way in the back so everything got moved around.. I'm always hiding my things so no one will steal it.. This time I just wasn't careful enough. I'm so thankful that those 3 boys that my mom and I saw walking around from the car had Karma come back and bite them in the behind, and that they got away with NOTHING and ment anything to them. We described the boys that we saw to the officer and he said.."he's out of jail already? I've arrested him 3 times... " and he drove off to go check things out.

Thats my story of the week. Today Kelli had a dance recital.. I'll post about that soon!

Day After Thanksgiving

The day after thanksgivng MOST people want to get into fights at the mall or get great deals on toys for the kids.. but not the BULL family! No way... we want to freeze while shooting shot guns, and 4 wheeling, and eat yummy leftovers up at our cabin. I know most people think that this sounds miserable--but its so much fun. The Bull's all went in and bought a cabin. We all have shares of it.. and its so much fun, and we make so many memories up there. The kids absolutly love it up there. It's kind of stressful to make sure you have everything but the kids have just so much fun up there.. you can't help but have a great time with them.


Steven took the little girls out on a ride. They loved it and didn't want to come in.
(front to back: Kelli 2 1/2, Steven, Lyza 3 1/2, and Sami 5)
Danny with last years Christmas present. A 20 gage shot gun. Some of the boys in my family got them last year.. and he loves it! I think its pretty fun, althought I dont hit the clay pigeons, I shoot at still objects!!

Up at "lookout point" at the cabin.. all the men out there. This is one of the many view from our cabin.

Steven and Scott.. ready... aim... FIRE!

The boys and little Rachael

Scott came in for a little break but us girls mainly stayed inside because it was so cold! Plus, someone had to watch the kids!

Uncle Greg with Brooklyn and Kelli. Kelli loves Uncle GREGGY.

When we got to the cabin.. it was FREEZING. Everyone put on their beenies and their jackets and huddled up by the fire. Here are the girls trying to warm up their hands... Kelli thought it was so funny, I don't think she understood what they were doing at the beginning.

Here is our little cabin.... It has a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and a large loft upstairs that has a bunch of bunkbeds. It also has an outhouse for the winter time... eek! :)

Its really fun to go up there and its just perfect.. its a real cabin.. not a second home. (which would be nice too but I like the lil' cabin! It's still homey...)

Thanksgiving

I, just like everyone else... have so much to be Thankful for.. but I don't want to get preachy... So I'm thankful for the obvious... Plumbing, Electricity, Shelter, The Gospel, my family, and my little girls and husband that keep me on my toes.... and that was of coarse in no partiular order :)

Here are a few pics of Thanksgiving day of us basically just lounging around.

Josie talking to my dad Thanksgiving night while we were playing games. She is honestly the happiest baby ever! She has the BIGGEST smile. (below)

Look at those chubby cheeks.. She gets those from her mother.. Lucky her!

During the day... my dad decided that it would be great fun to bust out the old hockey game. So Scott and Kelli were on a team bascially.. She prob did more harm than helping but.... she's so cute you can't get mad! She would drop the puck to begin the game. She thought it was so cool.

My mother made a delicious dinner and then we all added our own things like salads and jellos and desserts... So yummy we had to roll ourselves around because we were so full. Blah! But it was sooo worth it! It was fun to just sit around and be together as a family and not have a huge agenda to live by. Earlier that day we snuck away all of us to see Twilight. It was good but not as good as the book but I think it was pretty good... left out some things but all and all I think they did a good job!

Twinners

Matching Flower pj's. Kelli wants to wear these every night so she can be the same as Josie. She just loves it. Once again.. Kelli found Josie, and had to lay right next to her.

Dressing Herself...

Don't you just love the stage of when they want to dress themselves? Well, Kelli is kind of in that stage where she wants to pick out clothes and put them on... She worked so hard at putting on her pants, I just didn't have the heart to tell her they were on the wrong way! It looks kind of trippy but it was pretty funny.

She didn't know why I needed to take a pic but she's such a good sport, whenever she sees my camera she says..."ok, SMILE!" but its hard to get a good smile out of her.. she gets distracted easy.

Your my Best Friend EVER

I don't know where Kelli heard this.. but she says to it Josie all the time. "Your my Best Friend EVER!" and she'll be holding her face. Anytime I have Josie on the ground laying, or in her Bumbo, Kelli will always go sit right next to her. Josie you can tell wants so badly to be old enough to play with her.

In this pic you can tell that Josie is over it and maybe wants some space... but Kelli says "NO! We're being best friends." I can't argue with that!!

Building a Temple

I'm proud to say that we're not raising an under-achiever. I found her playing with her blocks on my wedding album, and when I asked her what she was doing she said.."I'm just building a temple!" It was such a beautiful temple!! Good Job Kelli.