Christmas Recap

No more pictures of Christmas, but I wanted to share what else we did. We left Jim and Aimee's house and headed North to my parents' house. They gave the girls dresses and Bo a handsome outfit from Old Navy. Justin and I got Visa gift cards and Texas Roadhouse gift cards. YUMMMYYYYY!!! We hung out they for the rest of the day and then at around 7:00 headed to my brother, John's house to play games. It was really bad weather, but I made Justin stay. We ended up driving home in a blizzard. The on ramp to the freeway wasn't plowed, so we had to plow through about 6 inches of snow in the minivan! AAAHHH!!! It was freaky! We made it home alright, but it wasn't without worry. We had a wonderufl Christmas and have spent every night since partying late into the night. I am so grateful for this time of year. I love spending every minute with my family and friends. I am grateful for my Savior, without whom, I would be lost. I am so grateful for my loving family and especially for my AWESOME husband. I am so blessed with my four BEAUTIFUL children. I love them with everything I have. They are perfect! Thanks for everything! You all ROCK!

Christmas Morning with the Barbers

After we finished at our house, we headed over to Jim and Aimee's for the Barber Christmas party. We always have breakfast and then open presents. This year the rule was "Homemade Gifts." So, here are a few pictures of us receiving gifts.


Mike made Justin this awesome fishing lamp. Yeah, I know! I totally thought they bought it! But, Mike made it by himself! Justin LOVES it!


Judd gave Bo a book and a blanket that he tied. Bo loves the new book and tries out all of the different ways that animals say goodnight whenever we read it! Thanks Judd!


Austin made Allison this "treasure box." It's enraved with an "A" for Allison! Inside was a kit to make some necklaces. She loves it. Thanks Austin!


Josh made Rachel a box, too. Her's had some teething rings in it. She has put them to good use. Thanks Josh!

Marianne got a "treasure box" from Kyle, too. Her's was pink with "M" on the top. She, too, got a jewlery making kit. She loves them both! Thanks Kyle!

I always love Christmas morning with the Barbers! It's such a fun start to a long day! This year, because the gifst were supposed to be homemade, I ended up doing it all, which was fun. We gave Joe a pair of pj pants, Cami, Sadie and Aubry got bracelets, Austin got a picture of his dog, Macy and some dog pj pants, and Brigham got BYU jammies and a BYU fleece blanket that I blanket stitched around. This year, I LOVED giving!

Christmas Morning

Let me begin by saying that I HATE that when you upload photos on Blogger, they get all out of order. I usually take the time to put them back in the order I had them, but I have too much to post, so bear with me!

I got up at 7:00 to jump in the shower and get ready before the kids woke up...at 8:30! My parents, Dan and Lisa came to our house, too. My mom said that our kids are just fun to watch open their presents. They are getting to be at the perfect age! So, here are just a FEW of the pictures we got of Christmas morning.


Marianne checking out the stockings before we headed downstairs to open gifts.


Bo sorting through his stocking. He got some Matchbox cars along with all the junk. We really try no to go overboard on the candy. We do mostly crackers, juice, fruit, but we always throw in some chocolate for good measure.

The kids got a Little Tykes kitchen for Christmas. It is probably their favorite gift and it was free! Thanks Mike and Amy!

Allison going through her stocking. The girls got little gumball machines from the big man.

Opening gifts. Bo got this hammer and peg set from Justin and Bo DID NOT want to let it go. I felt bad that everytime he opened a present, we would just take it away and make him open another one. Word to the wise: have your kids open the boring stuff first. The clothes I got him were not near as exciting as the toys he got!

Here is Bo after we took his toys away to "make" him open more. He has been doing this "It's the end of the world" routine for some time now. I think it's adorable!

Rachel opening one of her few gifts. What do you get a 6 month old for Christmas?

We had a great morning. Here's what everyone got:

Justin: Electric Guitar Amp, BYU football, Monopoly, John Grisham book, socks

Joann: Mountain bike, pedicure kit, Glenn Beck's "An Unlikely Mormon" DVD

Marianne: Clothes, games, camera, "Horton Hears a Who," socks, underwear

Allison: Clothes, games, camera, "Wall-E," socks, underwear

Bo: Hammer and pegs, Matchbox rescue station, games, socks (I WISH underwear!)

Rachel: Clothes, toys

Christmas Eve

Every Christmas Eve we have a few traditions. Luckily we get to spend it with just our little family. I love that! We gave the kids a bath and let them put on their new jammies. Then, we headed downstairs to watch the original "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" while we wrapped presents for our family and friends. After "The Grinch" we sang some Christmas carols while Justin played his guitar. I love this part the most, especially now that the girls are getting old enough to sing with us. It is one of the few times every year that I get to hear Justin play his guitar that I got him for our first Christmas together. Then, we put the kids to bed and stayed up watching "A Christmas Story" while we wrapped the rest of the presents. We finished at about 12:30 am. Not too shabby, huh? I love our Christmas Eve traditions!


Marianne, Justin, Rachel, Allison, Bo and Joann in our Christmas jammies.

Arrington Family Christmas Party

My family's party was on the night of the 23rd. We had Bryan and Becky's family and got them "Family Feud" and lots of candy. My big sister Sharon and her family had us. They gave the girls a basket full of dress up clothes (totally awesome!), Bo some hacky-sac type sports balls, and Rachel a cute little outfit. I wanted to share the outfit that Rachel got. I love it!



When I showed my mom she said, "I don't think that's very funny." I guess it hit a little too close to home for her! Ha!

WE'RE ALIVE!!!

I know, I know! It's been almost a month since I last posted. Justin has given me a little grief, but I say, "It's his blog, too!" Anyway, here is what we have been up to for the past few weeks!

Allison's preschool program was on December 19th. Her teacher (Justin's sister, Jeri) asked the girls and me to sing "When Christmas Comes to Town." Allison had never sung it in front of a crowd, so I was a little worried about her. I basically thought she would just stand there while Marianne sang their part by herself. Well, such was NOT the case. Alli got ahold of that microphone and WOULD NOT let it go. Marianne and I had to practically yank it out of her hands. You can see that from this picture. Another funny thing is that I messed up on the words in one part. Of course, Marianne knows the song better than I do, so instead of just letting people think that I was doing great, she sat there and shook her head and practically shouting, "No! No! That's wrong!" Yeah, thanks, sis!


Marianne TRYING to share the microphone with Allison.


I put Justin's little brother, Joe in charge of our camera. I was pretty much counting on having one of these photos of his cute family! We love you Brigham, Lizzy and Uncle Joey.


Next was Santa's lap. Bo DID NOT enjoy himself!

Marianne, ever the big girl, couldn't wait to tell Santa what she wanted!

Allison, however, would just get close enough to whisper that she wanted a "present" for Christmas. I love this picture!

Thanks to Mrs. Eggett for being such a great teacher (and sister, and aunt, and friend etc....) We love you!