My fourth graders go skiing every year the day before Christmas break. It is a great way to start off our Christmas vacation, and Cameron and I love to sneak in a little skiing with a few of our kids for free. Spencer was excited that it was his year to start skiing. He calls it "ice-skating" but he had a GREAT time, and keeps asking when he can go again. I, unfortunately, am way too pregnant to ski right now, so I had to settle for hanging out in the lodge and snapping a few pictures.



All in all, everyone had a great time. Cameron is excited that his knee is better this year, and can ski more often this season. Katelyn and Camille are planning on going up quite a bit with Cameron this year.

And... I had to throw this picture in... Cameron and I got Spencer these little Toy Story figures to act out things with. He LOVES them and we often hear him talking with them. He asked me to take a picture of his toys... So CUTE! And, yes, he did sleep with all of them.

My little man, my favorite little boy (I can say that for another 4 weeks) is turning 4 today! Yikes, where did the time go? Our family LOVES this little dude, and ask anyone who knows me, I just can't get enough of my little guy. He is such a joy! At 4, his favorite things are Buzz and Woody from Toy Story, Transformers (especially Bumble Bee and Optimus Prime), Batman, and Spiderman. He is also my cuddler. He climbs in bed with me and tells me the best stories and asks the funniest questions.

The top ten things I love about my Spencer are (in no particular order):
10) He tells the best stories.
9) He will hug me whenever I ask him to.
8) He does this thing with his eyes while he is talking to me that makes me laugh.
7) He is quick to forgive.
6) Though he loves to pick a good fight with Katelyn or Emmy, he is the first to defend them with "outsiders."
5) He gets so excited about things.
4) He tells me he loves me all the time.
3) When he smiles his eyes disappear and his mouth gets really big.
2) He loves to go anywhere that dad and mom are going.
1) He is my boy!

My girls have been getting ready for 2 big dance performances this week. First, they performed in a school assembly with the ballroom class they have been taking at school for the past few months. They looked great out there, even if Katelyn was 3 heads shorter than everyone else. She definitely held her own. I recorded their dances, but will have to wait til they get downloaded to share them. In the meantime, here's a snapshot of the two of them in costume. They performed a swing and were dressed in cute poodle skirts.



Today was their annual Christmas recital. It was fun to watch the little combo kids to remember how far my girls have come. They both LOVE getting all dressed up with make up on and in costume.

Cameron and I have been talking a lot recently about how blessed we are, especially with our kids. We adore them (even when they frustrate us). They are just so much the focus of our lives and we wouldn't have it any other way. As they have been getting older, we have been trying to strengthen our family so that the kids KNOW that we will always be there for them and LOVE them like crazy. Some of our favorite Christmas Traditions are getting our own Christmas Tree (see pictures below), Cameron helping the kids make sugar cookies for Santa (Cameron is the best at that!), the girls dance recital, and according to the kids, watching the "Jesus Movie" on Christmas eve. We tried out the Festival of Trees this year, as well as going to Temple Square to see the lights this year too. All in all, we LOVE spending time together, especially this time of year. I am looking forward to the Christmas break so that I can finally get things ready for our new little guy.

So here I am about 31-32 weeks with my LAST baby. I was feeling pretty good about things and felt like this pregnancy was a breeze. I should have known better. Anyone who really knows me, knows that I am always doing a million things at once, and that anything else is almost foreign to me. After our trip last week, I knew I had over-done it a bit with all the walking and carrying of kids, but I had to get right back into school and the holidays. I had a really bad headache for 3 days last week, and we just generally feeling yucky. I kept putting the feelings off because I knew I had an OB appointment on the 23rd, so I would just tell my dr. then. Well by this weekend, I felt really yucky (achy in my stomach, contractions, headache, etc.), so I called to see if I should come in just to get checked. After having to get lots of checks with Emmy and Spence, I knew that it is better not to come when my family needs me, cause you never know when you will get out of there. So Cameron and I decided that he would go to church with the kids, and I would go to the hospital to get checked. Then I would be home in time for having my siblings over to dinner. Cameron started getting food ready, I put some clothes in the washer and was off to the hospital. I mainly wanted to get reassurance that the baby was doing ok and that my blood pressure was ok (which is why I had so many non-stress tests with Spence and Emmy). Well, I ended up being there for over 5 hours. Apparently I was dehydrated (which makes sense, although I was making a deliberate attempt to drink enough) and once the monitors were on, they were a little concerned that I really was having contractions, and some good ones that were coming every 12 minutes consistently. So lucky me, they decided to check to see if I was dialating yet, and I am, so they made me stay, get hooked up to IVs do more labs, and monitor me. They wanted to keep me, but after explaining that is isn't too out of the ordinary for me, they let me go with strict instructions to take it easy or they will keep me in the hospital. How do you take it easy with 4 kids at home, the youngest of whom is only 17 months and I frankly have to hold quite a bit to get her in her chair to eat, change diapers, give baths, etc.; teach full time; and get ready for Christmas; not to mention my church calling, keeping my house somewhat clean, get kids to and fro, etc. So, I'm going to try to take it easy cause the idea of having to be in the hospital til this baby is ready really will send me into pre-term labor... wish me luck!

Well, we are officially back from our vacation... It is really hard to come back after a fun break like this. Here is our recap...

1) Day One- Drive to Vegas- As soon as I finished my last SEP conference, we were on the road headed to Vegas to break up the long drive. Our older kids did great, but Loo wasn't having such a great ride. She was sick of being in the car from about the first 15 min. we were in the car.

2)Day Two- Sea World- We headed straight to Sea World from Vegas. I didn't get any pictures from that day ready to upload yet, but we had a good time. The kids loved the Shamu show, and the dolphins. They really wanted to pet them, but we missed feeding time. That night, we visited with my Auntie Hoa. She took us to a yummy Vietnamese restaurant, and we enjoyed visiting with her.

3) Day Three- SanDiego Zoo- We woke up bright and early the next morning to head to the SanDiego Zoo. I love this zoo. It has pretty much everything you would want to see at a zoo, and all the exhibits are near each other to keep the kids entertained. We played there most of the day then headed up to Newport Beach to check into the condo.
























7) Day 7 - Universal Studios - We just walked around an took things in. No rush, just enjoying things. This was the one day it payed to have short kids. Everywhere else, my kids kept getting kicked off of rides for being too short, but at Universal they have this kids eating pass, where the kids can eat for one price as much and as often as they want. My kids all qualified, and got all the food they wanted to eat all day, it was awesome. Later that night, we met up with my Auntie Joie and Tu-Anh for another yummy Vietnamese dinner. Again, fun visiting with family.


8) Day 8- San Jose and the Beach- The girls and I flew up to San Jose to see my VERY talented and CUTE neice Micah star in the play ANNIE. She was unbelievably AMAZING! I Can't believe how well she did even after being sick this past week. My older girls and I fly up just for the day. They had fun playing with their cousins for just a few hours, and Camille kept telling me how great Micah was. I would have to agree. It is fun for my girls to have such a great role model of an older cousin. Yeah Micah, you did FABULOUS!!! While we were out for the day, Cameron kept the little kids entertained in the sandbox and at the beach. Thank you Cameron!