February Family Fun

Life just happens so quickly, it's hard to keep pace - especially in February!  That month just zipped by me this year. We have so many Crowley birthdays in February and you know what that means?  Yes, lots of cake! 
Charlotte
Charlotte has the first birthday and amazingly she turned 6 years-old on February 2nd.  We have all been asking ourselves where the time has gone.  She is such a cutie pie too.  She loves visiting Grammie's house.  It's funny how all the grand kids call our home Grammie's...hmmm.  Charlotte loves sleepovers and cooking with Grammie, but alas and alack,  Grandpa is her favorite here.  That's true of all the kids. I have tried ramping up my game but nothing seems to help me.  Anyway, I digress.

I think this was about four years ago.  Is this sweet -- yes it is such a sweet little face.

 

Here is Charlotte with cousin Audrey about three years ago.  These little cousins adore each other.  Look at those sweet faces.

And here is Charlotte today.  She is in kindergarten now and really loves keeping busy.  Here she is making pie crust cinnamon cookies.  Love this girl.  She cut some pretty crazy shapes.

Charlotte had a party with her cousins at Chuck e Cheese.  Grammie and Grandpa didn't make the party, but look at this grown up girl.  Thanks Gabe for these pics!

Birthday cake at cousin Audrey's!  Did she get that piece all in her mouth?

Then the craziest thing happened -- Right on the money Charlotte lost her first tooth on her birthday at Uncle Andrew and Aunt Melanie's house with her two little cousins, Audrey and Jocelyn screaming in the background.  Charlotte was also doing her share of screaming.  I'm sorry I missed this event.

 Next:

     February 3 was Gabrielle  -- Matthew on March 9th

This is a few years ago at the beach, but, love this pic of Matt and Gabe!  I cannot divulge Gabe's  age on this blog.  That is not my news to share. 

Since a mother always keeps track of the age of her children however -- Matthew is 457 months old! 

We live just five minutes away from this cute couple.  It's fun to get to see them often.

Our Gabe is one clever girl.  There isn't anything this girl cannot do. She is always there to help me when I need her.  A couple of years ago we had planned an Angel themed birthday dinner at the church and she volunteered to make her homemade marinara for the angel hair pasta.  I found out the night before she had to schedule an emergency flight to Utah to help her mother.  On the commute home I was trying to figure out when I would have time to get to the store for some store-bought sauce.  But to my surprise when I got home there were two quart jars of her sauce in my fridge and she was on a plane to Utah.  I don't know how she did it. Gabe takes good care of Matthew, Charlotte and Nathan  and she makes sure our Lauren fits right in to their family.   I sure love this girl.

 

And Matt - love this boy!  He came into our lives after eight long years of longing for a baby.  What a happy time for us.  He is now our renaissance man.  There isn't anything he can't figure out and he is still interested in absolutely everything.  He has an unquenchable thirst for learning. He is loving and kind and he  takes good care of his family.  Love this man cub. 

     February 8 was Melanie

Melanie's age will also remain a secret.  I will tell you she is the youngest of the children.  She's a busy girl with three little girls and the big job of taking care of Andrew! and I'm sure there is a baby under that blanket.  I love this beautiful picture of Melanie.

 

Yes, there is a baby under that blanket!

 

 

Harper is almost 7 months old.  She is growing so fast! They don't get any cuter than this!  Not Harper's birthday, but I had to sneak this in!

Melanie is the best mommy and wife.  And such a clever girl too.  She can make anything and figure out anything.  When Andrew and Melanie lived with us for a few months, we had such fun cooking and planning meals.  She is a good sport.  Andrew is a lucky man.  She makes her home so welcoming to friends and family.  Melanie is so thoughtful and that sweetheart found the diamond that had fallen out of the my wedding ring setting.  I had looked for it for weeks.  Love thi.s girl!

 

     February 21 was Nathan
It's hard to believe this little quiet baby turned three.  This little guy is all perpetual motion now.

Nathan had plenty of help opening this present.  Can you imagine all of those three little girls helping.  Jocelyn is out of the picture, but she is helping.  It was hard to keep the girls from ripping the paper for him, they were so excited.

 

Yes, a present!  I'm not sure what it is?

 

What a beautiful face this little guy has.  Yes, it's hard to turn him down on anything. 

 Nathan loves coming to Grammie's house, because yes, that's where Grandpa lives, and as I said, he usually pushes passed me looking for Grandpa. 


Party Time!  We have to keep the kids engaged.  We planned a few games for the kids.  The marsh mellow one was the favorite.

Let's build castles out of toothpicks and marshmallows.  They loved it!  Okay - they ate a few.
                            Grammie, Audrey and Charlotte

 

Audrey

 

 

 

 I really believe Nathan ate more marshmallows than were on his castle.

 

Is that marshmellow dust on Nathan's lips?

 

 

Jocelyn's Castle - and notice she appropriately has on a princess dress! 

 

 

Here's the table set for the Costa Vida Party

 

 Add some hungry people!  Heck not everyone was at the table yet.

 

And then onto the cake!  Happy Birthday to the Crowley Gang!

Our birthday party was great family fun in February.We love having a reason to celebrate.  We are missing  (including the California Crowleys and Lauren) only the month of July. for a birthday in our family   Come gang!  Let's get that corrected.  Then we can have CAKE and celebrations every month.  Love this Crowley Family!  There are 18 of us now.  Jocelyn is next!

Fabulous December Part II

We delivered the last of our popcorn balls on Christmas Day to some of the neighbors we had missed.  What a fun tradition this has been for our family and now just Rich and I.  We've had quieter Christmas preparations these days, but no less fun.  We did six batches of popcorn balls so that is about 120 popcorn balls altogether for mostly neighbors and family.  We love the tradition and have been delivering this fun treat since the first year we were married  -- so many years ago.  We use Rich's mother's recipe which is so quick and yummy!


     This is where I spent most of my day today catching up!  It was glorious!

 

 

So back to the beginning of the month.

Las Vegas 

On Dec 4th Rich and I flew to Las Vegas on our way to visit Jeremy's family in California.  We stopped in Vegas to see Mike and Rosy.  (my brother and his wife) They have been in Vegas for a year and a half, but we haven't seen them since August of 2010.  That's just too long and I was too lonesome for them.  What a busy life they have serving as the mission president in the Las Vegas area.  We had a wonderful evening visiting over dinner and catching up.                                           

 

The next morning when we got up Rosy had been gone several hours.  She was at the hospital with a sister missionary who needed emergency surgery. We didn't see her again until we returned two weeks later.  We were able to serve the zone leaders lunch and it was fun to be there to help.

 

Here are the missionary shoes in the foyer of the mission home.  Such a cute picture.

 

 

 

                               My brother, President Michael Antone Neider and I at Las Vegas Mission Home.

One of the sister missionaries ask me if President Neider was as good a man as he seemed.  I told her,

"Yes, he's that good a man!"  He is!

Mike and Rosy will gather all of their children and their families for the wedding of Natalie, daughter number five on the 29th.  They are busy busy.  Thinking about the Michael Neider Family today altogether.  Wish we were there for the celebration.

 

 On to Fresno

We rented a car and drove to Jeremy's home in Fresno.  Rich and I love a good driving adventure.  We made it to Jeremy and Shelly's with the kids noses pressed against the windows waiting for us.  So exciting to see them.   We had a great great visit with Tanner, Carsen, Emery, Chase, and of course Jeremy and Shelly.

 

This little guy met Grandpa at the door with arms outstretched. 

 

 Chase really won our hearts.  He is such an adorable one year-old.

 

                                    On the bed watching a football game -- four peas in a pod.

 

                               Here's the family.  Tanner (11) Carsen (9) Emery (4) Chase (1)

 

 It was fun and exciting visiting in CA for almost two weeks.  We don't get to see enough of this cute family.  They are beyond busy.

We had a lovely dinner at Shelly's parent's home,  Uncle Dean and Aunt Laurie Witt stopped by with cheesecake one night.  Shelly and I got to shop - not enough tho'.  We saw two of Tanner's bball games.  The kid is a natural athlete.  Took Tanner and Carsen shopping for birthday gifts.  So fun.  Grandpa told stories every night.  Had lunch at Sweet Tomatoes - Rich's favorite.  Visited Christmas Tree Lane.  (an entire neighborhood of homes with extensive Christmas lights)  Very impressive.

 

I really love Fresno, Ca with the beautiful trees - sequoias, and the tall skinny cedars.  What I really love tho' are the Crowley kids who live there.  They are a beautiful family.

 

Grandpa and Tanner shooting hoops.  I wonder who won?  Jeremy said this bball stand is the best investment he has ever made.

 

Carsen beaming with his new star wars guys.

                                                       
                  Tanner in his new bball socks.  Once he got them he wouldn't take them off.  He even wore them to church.  That was his birthday gift.  Then for his Christmas gift, he wanted two more.  He is set. 

 

Shelly's beautiful centerpiece.  The Christmas decorations in their home were beautiful!

 

 

Grandpa is the favorite.  Here's Em and Chase.

 

 

 What a cute family -- they just live too far away from VA.  After we made a few Christmas goodies, made a quick trip to the Honey Baked Ham store - and yes ate the ham at a fun dinner, it was time to head back to VA.  Gabe picked us up on Charlottesville and I could have slept for days.  I actually did sleep until 10:30 the next morning.  What a great trip.

Back in Virginia

We got home in time to add a few more decorations for the Christmas celebration.  We listened to Christmas music nonstop.  It was so peaceful.  Rich and I found this beautiful Nativity in downton Culpeper before we left.  I love it.  Their faces are so sweet.  I put it on the high table to avoid little fingers.

I love decorating my tables.  This is in the dining room.

These Christmas treasure come out every year.  Andrew, Matt and Jeremy made these when they were in grade school.  Matt made the little green tree, Andrew the candle and Jeremy the Nativity.  These are special treasures and I can see the beaming faces so tickled with their gifts when they were given to Rich and me.

After saying I would not buy one more Christmas decoration, Shelly took me to a beautiful shop in Fresno and I fell in love with these trees and had to have them.  I brought home four of them in my suitcase.  They are stunning.  I love trees.

I loved decorating the railings.  Shelly's mother, who is a decorator extraordinaire had this in her home and I wanted to try it.  It turned out beautifully.  So thanks Nancy!  And yes I had to get the mesh ribbon for the railings that is 21 inches wide. 

This really tickled my heart!  I know, I'm a little crazy.

 

 

Okay I bought these beautiful sparkling ornaments too.  (the round ones)  They came home in the suitcase too.

 

 In the middle of all of this we received a call in California to ask Rich and I if we would speak in sacrament meeting and deliver the Christmas message.  After we were home we realized the humbling responsibility of the task.  Rich has spoken many times at Christmas, but this was my first Christmas talk.  In making preparations it brought me to my knees several times seeking inspiration from the Lord as to what would be meaningful for our congregation.  We had just laid to rest two very dear members of our Ward and with the slaying of innocent ones in Connecticut, I felt especially humbled, saddened and emotionally very raw.

This was a tough assignment for me, but as I told the story of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's tragedy and writing of "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" and the scripture story of Samuel the Lamanite preaching to the Nephites to repent and follow the  righteous traditions of their fathers and his prophecy of the Savior's birth,I felt the love of the Savior for all of us.  I also tied  that feeling of love representing Christ to some of our own righteous traditions, I felt the talk coming together. 

I quoted Martin Luther King at the end. MLK stated, "The moral arc of the universe is long, but bends toward justice." 

WE are the benders of the arc.  All of our righteous acts can help overcome the evil in our world.  So I made it through the talk -- broke down several times, but I felt like it went pretty well. Rich's talk was (as usual) amazing.  The study of the scriptures for the talk and feeling the closeness of the Spirit and love of the Savior -- especially this year -- left me with a greater appreciaton of Christ's  sacrifice and understanding of our pain.

Christmas Eve
We had a pretty low key, early Christmas Eve dinner with Matthew and Andrew's families.  Everyone helped with the dinner.  Gabe plated the ham beautifully with parsey, orange slices and cherries.  (no pic -- darn)  Rich made delicious mashed potatoes, Melanie made green bean bundles!  Matt did the drink and Andrew set the table.  Wonderful dinner. 

We had the kids open a gift from Grammie and Grandpa and our kids found what was in their stockings. 

 Here are Nathan, Jocelyn, Charlotte, and Audrey waiting patiently to open their gifts.  You can barely see them all huddled in anticipation.

Nathan gets a digger with rocks!

 Nathan opened first and then he was done with the rest of us.

 Here's Jocelyn with her Penelope Peapod doll, Charlotte with her stamp set and Audrey with her new suitcase.  You'll notice that Audrey found a princess dress to wear.

What sweethearts these girls are...there is always excitement when they are around.


And here is Harper trying to be part of the group, but too young to know what's happening.

We had a fun Christmas Eve with the gang.  After the families left Rich and I watched a movie, made sugarlump bread for morning, cooked up the sausage links, and one more batch of popcorn balls.  Busy little elves we were.

Christmas morning  Gabe called us at 8:45 to tell us they were ready for us to come over.  Ha Ha she woke us up.  That has never happened to me in my entire life on Christmas morning.  Read it and weep all of you so tired parents.  Sleeping later than 8:30.  It finally happened to us, but you have a few years to wait.

Our morning with Matt and Gabe was fun.  We had our sugarlump bread, sausages and orange julius.  Oh, and Matt scrambled some perfect eggs.  Santa came to their house and Charlotte and Nathan were having so much fun with their new toys.  Then later in the day we went to Andrew and Melanie's for Christmas dinner.  The little girls were so excited to see us and show us the new toys Santa had brought.  Melanie and Andrew had three crock pots cooking our dinner and it was a perfect day.

I think Rich and I were the only ones who were able to sleep in on Christmas morning.  Our kids were all tired.

Best Gift I've ever had!
The kids gave us this fabulous picture album of the adventures of the Crowley Family this year.  It is fantastic!  Thanks Crowley kids.

 

Here are some of the wonderful pictures.

 This book of photos is such a treasure.  Page after page filled with the bright shiny faces of my 10 grandchildren.  Priceless!  I am restraining myself.  You will have to come visit to see the rest of the pictures.

 

Our Christmas season has been amazing.  Fun and festive and now quiet and peaceful.  No set schedule.  So relaxing.  The real world starts soon.  What new adventures await us?  We'll soon find out -- Now on to 2013!  Oops, I forgot, I still have to blog about the fun August we had.  It's still coming.  Hopefully before 2014.  (A Neider/Hansen Reunion and my class reunion)