Madi's Birthday

I'm just getting around to posting pictures from Madison's birthday. Madi could not wait for Christmas to come because she knew that only a few days after it was her turn to have balloons, blow out candles, and be sung the doo da doo birthday song. For us, her turning 3 and ending the terrible 2's was a blessed day! The terrible 2's were a little rough on us with everything from unplanned haircuts to braking a whole container of eggs in our entry way. Despite all the "fun" we still feel extremely blessed to have our little Madi Mei in our family. She gets cuter by the minute and fills our lives with laughter, hugs, babies, dancing, and the color pink! We love you Madi girl! Happy Birthday!

While Madi was sleeping, PJ and I decorated her door. She felt so special when she woke up. I honestly have never meet a little one as excited for her birthday as she was. It made the whole day especially fun.

That morning we had pink waffles, pink buttermilk syrup and pink milk!

Madison loved her new baby that we got her.

For her special day, I took Madison to Build-a-Bear and we came home with this beautiful bunny named Cinderella bunny (pretty original) with glass slippers and panties because "she is a big girl."

That night we had both of our families come over for cake and presents. (Madi, Hailey, and Aunt Julie)

Madison with Grandma & Grandpa Cutler

Hurray for sticker books! All the stickers would soon end up on one page.

My favorite little princess

Blowing out the candles

December 29, 2003
The day Madison was born was one of the happiest days of our lives. She was absolutely beautiful and continues to be more so every day. We love you Madi girl!

Christmas

Our Christmas mornings always start the same with PJ and I not sleeping because we are so dang excited! It's kind of funny, but we really are the two biggest kids of our family. We are always up and showered for the day before our kids even pop out of bed. When our kids finally wake up we like to torture them to some extent by either making them rub our backs (thanks Grandpa C for the good idea), or making them do silly tricks like jumping on one foot and spinning around (thanks Grandpa P) before they can see their presents. It's kinda humorous at least to us! When our kids are finally allowed to see their presents, they are always excited and this year was no exception.

Madison couldn't wait to try our the new bike that Santa gave her.

Mckay loved the power miner legos

Of coarse our little princess received a helmet too!

This is a picture of the aprons I made for Madi and her baby.

After spending the morning at our house, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Anderson's house for some scrumptious waffles and presents.

Kim and PJ

What would a Christmas be like without Nerf toys? I have yet to find out. I guess it is part of being a boy. Of coarse Mckay loved it!

Grandma & Grandpa gave Madi this fun digital camera for kids. She has had so much fun taking pictures of the floor, the wall, her feet, the ceiling, my stomach, and PJ's nose. Thank goodness for the delete button!

After spending the morning with PJ's family, we headed up the street and spent the remainder of the day with my family. While we were there, we were able to talk to Elder Cutler. That honestly was the best present of the day. He is serving in Chile and is such a good example to our whole family. We miss him so much, but we are proud of his willingness to serve.

This is Mckay's "I'm so happy because I got another nerf gun face!" By the end of the day we all felt extremely blessed. We had such a wonderful Christmas season and feel so grateful to our family and for all the Savior has done for us.

Our Christmas Eve Adventure

Six Stitches for the Six Year Old!
Every year for Christmas Eve we go over to Grandma Cutler's to read the Christmas story, write a letter to Santa, and open a special gift from my mom. Our night was pleasant and pretty uneventful until our little Mckay wanted to see how silly we would look with a big Christmas bow on his head. As he propped himself up to look in the mirror he suddenly slipped and hit his chin on the bathroom sink. We knew instantly that he would need stitches so we headed on over to the emergency room.

Before...

After...

Mckay was a little nervous, but after a priesthood blessing and a little sedation he felt calm and was even smiling and laughing as he waited for the doctor. As we left the hospital that night we felt so grateful for the kind doctor, nurses, and receptionists that were willing to work on Christmas Eve. By the time we got home it was 12:30am and luckily Santa did not catch us staying out late!

December Fun!

I love everything about Christmas time! I love the music and decorations, the activities and parities, I even like the shopping! Our December was so busy, but it was filled with doing good things with the people we love. Here are just a few of the fun things we did together as a family.

Sledding

Our kids love the snow and beg to play in it almost every day. Their begging paid off and we were able to spend a day sledding and playing in the snow at the local golf coarse.

This is how Madi "walked" back up the hill.

Of course the boys had to try some extreme sledding.


Christmas Piano Recital

Oh how I love these kids! Teaching piano lessons really is the next best thing to being a mom. It was so much fun for me to be able to listen to them play their beautiful pieces at this year's Christmas piano recital. 13 out of my 14 students were able to make it and they all did a fabulous job!

Jingle all the way! Hey! was played constantly at our house this last month. My little Mckay joined us for his first Christmas Piano Recital and did a fantastic job! I was so proud of him!

Madi is already planning out what she is going to play in a couple of years.

My Nephew Preston and me

The Polar Express
Santa surprised us this year by sending us tickets to ride on the Polar Expres. It was such a magical night for our whole family. We sang carols, drank hot chocolate, ate scrumptious cookies, read the polar express, and visited with the Jolly Old Man and his Wife. It was such a memorable night.

All Aboard!

From the distance it looked just like the book.

Mckay getting his ticket punched.



Madison was so excited to see Santa. Her little eyes just sparkled!

At the end of the night Santa gave our kids bells to help remember their magical night.


A Special Visitor
A few nights before Christmas we had an unexpected visitor. Santa stopped by to personally answer our letters we had mailed to him. Our kids eyes nearly popped out as he gently pulled out of his sack the actual letters that we had addressed to the North Pole. Then to top things off, he spoke to Mckay about playing football this year, Mrs. Wall's class, and other things that were specific just to Mckay. He then called Madi by name and spoke of her dance class and many of her other interests. By the end of the night our kids were convinced that the actual Santa really was here.

Santa and Mckay

So...I had to sit on his lap too!

and PJ!

Before Santa left he made sure our kids had a little treat! What a fun night!

Making Gingerbread Houses
Growing up we always had a tradition of making gingerbread houses with my mom. So bless her heart, she bought our kids a little gingerbread train that they were able to make with our good friends the Huish Family.

Mckay, Kayla, Andrew, and Madi

Does it look like the Polar Express?

Four messy, happy, kids!