Thank-you Jen and Uche!

My siblings and I rotate giving gifts to each other every Christmas. We used to pick names when we lived at home, but now we just go down the list in order. This year Jen and Uche gave us a badminton set, which is awesome. I bought one for Dave a few years ago, and a couple of the kids (one of ours and a cousin) hung on the net and broke it before we even had a chance to play it once. We returned it and were hesitant about getting another one. But this one is much sturdier. Plus Dave can put it up super quick.

I don't think Tyler had ever played before, so Dave gave him some pointers.

I just sat in a chair and hit all the birdies that were within arm's reach, so we were about the same level.

Spencer is an old pro. He's played a bunch of times, including last week in gym. He loves it!

He's like Dave - he dives for everything.

Our yard is the perfect size for it. What a fun gift!

Zip!

One of the most exciting things (for Dave as well as the boys) we got for Christmas was our zip line. It's just a kid one and it's not that far off the ground, so there's no need for a harness. It took Dave awhile to install it on Monday, his one day off (that's the problem with Christmas falling on a Sunday), and the boys were out there on it bright and early Tuesday morning.

He tied a shoestring tail to it so they could run it back up to the playground.

That purple string to the left of Dallin is the brake Dave made. He attached a wooden block near the end of the zip line and connected it to a bungee cord screwed into the ground. As they get near the end, the brake slows them down gradually so they don't slam into the tree.

Tyler likes to go down backwards.

The zip line is really more for the older boys, so we got a 2-person swing for the younger boys. They loved the one at the Smalleys' house, and we needed a new swing for our swingwet, since our baby swing broke recently. They all really like it. Brennan stayed home sick today, which is why he's in his jammies. It seems like these two have been sick with colds for months, and it keeps flaring up Brennan's asthma. He even missed the last day of school before Christmas, and he was so miserable that he didn't even care about missing his class party.

What to get your parents for Christmas

It's always hard to know what to get parents and grandparents for Christmas, because they don't really need anything. My parents just moved and got rid of a lot of stuff as they downsized to a smaller home, so we didn't want to give them a bunch more stuff.

They have nine children, so my sister-in-law had the idea of pooling our resources to buy them each a Kindle. This seemed like a great idea, since they both love to read; plus they're nice and small and don't take up too much space.

My only concern was that it was such a perfect gift that one of them might already be giving it to the other. But they weren't, and they were very happy to get them.

It's fun to really surprise and delight someone with a gift. Thank-you, Megan, for the great idea!

I apologize for the use of flash in these pictures. They were taken before I got my new lens.

Christmas Morning

As I'm sure you can imagine, I took LOTS of pictures Christmas morning. But I don't want to bore you, so I've narrowed them down to my favorites. The boys all got glasses in their stockings that turn little lights into Christmas shapes, like snowflakes and snowmen.

Dallin wanted just 2 things for Christmas - a drum set and a display case for his slinkies. I didn't want such a big, loud thing in my small house; but Santa got it for him, so what could I do? He loves it and plays it all the time. We had to move it into his bedroom halfway through opening presents so we could hear each other.

The boys wanted electric scooters last year, but we told them no because we thought they were too expensive. They were SO surprised and excited to get them this year, since they'd given up hope. Santa must have found a really good deal on them. They like to zip all around the neighborhood, and they keep telling us how much they love them.

Brennan had been telling us for about 6 months that he wanted a robot for Christmas. This is a really cool one. It's programable - it can walk, dance and shoot little discs out of its mouth. Plus there's lots of lights and fun sounds. Everyone has enjoyed playing with it, except Levi. He's afraid of it.

This is the gift that took the most amount of time and thought. It took me forever to search the internet, but I couldn't find anything the right size and price. Finally I found this on ebay for only $5! It was used and kind of an ugly yellow pine with green felt on the inside, but it was just the right size. So I took it apart, sanded it down, bought a new back, painted it and put it back together. This kept me up until midnight a couple of nights before Christmas, but I was really happy with how it turned out. And Dallin LOVES it. He told me it was exactly what he had in mind. Shwew!!

He also got a bunch of new purple slinkies.

I had fun taking pictures with my new lens, so that made it a fun Christmas for me! See how blurred the background is? And how clear Brennan's face is? Even his ear and bathrobe are blurred. That's the shallow depth-of-field.

Levi slept in and actually woke up happy (he's usually quite cranky in the morning).

All the candy in his stocking may have had something to do with that.

Spencer has loved his Perplexus (he finished it last night) and Tyler was excited to get a tuner for his violin.

Can you believe I actually had time for a shower, contacts and make-up? I even made Cinnamon French Toast Bake before everyone woke up. That's because I was up with pregnancy insomnia at 5:00. It took me 2 days to get caught up on sleep.

At first Levi didn't like the drums. "Too loud!" But then he figured out how fun they were.

I think this is the third umbrella Brennan has gotten as a gift. They don't last long, but he loves them.

Levi loves his guitar, and Brennan loves it too. So many of their gifts are interchangeable. It's like they get twice as many presents.

One of the main things Tyler wanted was the game Loopz.

The boys gave me a set of 3 new living room lamps, which I really wanted. It was one of the biggest presents under the tree, and I had no idea what it was.

The main thing Spencer asked for was the game Risk. He wanted it ever since he played it with his cousins at the beach house a couple summers ago.

Yay! New wii games.

I gave Dave a new drill, and he's already used it to make the brake block for our new zip line! That was his big project on Monday, and the boys all love it SO MUCH. I'll post pictures of that as soon as I get some good ones. All the ones I've taken are too blurry.

It's fun to get those old classic games we both had in our families growing up and watch our children enjoy them too.

It turns out my new lens isn't as good at outside pictures with lots of light. Next I want a good zoom lens for outdoor action shots.

Cute Makayla

My sister Maryruth and her family came from Idaho to spend Christmas with my parents. I had so much fun taking pictures of her cute baby Makayla with my new prime lens Dave gave me for Christmas.

Adorable Christmas dress and hat!!

I love the lens's narrow depth-of-field and ability to handle low-light conditions. It's a 50mm 1.8D prime lens, which means it has a fixed focal length (i.e. no zoom). It's great for portraits and other up-close pictures. It was the first present I opened Christmas morning so I could use it right away. I'll post those pictures next.

We finally got a smile! She was so fascinated by the ornaments that it was hard to pull her attention away from the tree.

But her mommy was being so funny next to me that she just started cracking up. We love this cute baby!!