Snowman shirts

I love to coordinate my kids clothing and found a great idea for Christmas pjs online. Using freezer paper, fabric paints and a little artistic touch they turned out great. I bought them all fun jammie pants but made them the same shirt, I think we might try something like this next year too! I'm thinking snowflakes.  

Alvey Family Christmas 2011

After our family Christmas party, we headed back home to celebrate more! The kids were able to open their Christmas pjs, make cookies for Santa, read the Christmas story once more and have family prayer before being tucked in for the night! They were pretty restless but let us sleep until 7am.

Boy the excitement was all around! What did Santa bring? Look what he got! Oh yeah, that's just what I wanted! It really is fun to see my children's faces light up! Makes all the crazy shopping and wrapping worth it!

Brooklyn didn't quite understand what was going on but she was rather content to just watch everyone. Daddy held her while I took pictures and made sure everyone was getting their presents! The kids sure loved all the excitement of it all. Santa left them each a special kid size box of cereal that they got to eat for breakfast. We then all got dressed and headed over to church to feel just a bit more of that Christmas spirit. It was such a nice thing to be able to gather together and worship on Christmas day. I loved the spirit of it. The kids sang a few songs during our sacrament meeting and Zack sang with the choir. It was very uplifting!

 Later we let the kids get back in their jammies before heading over to my parents' home for more presents, lots of food, visiting and playing. We sure felt the Christmas spirit this year and loved all the cards and Christmas wishes we received! I'm so thankful for this most special time of year! May the Lord bless you and yours. Merry Christmas!

Family Christmas Party

For the past couple years Stephanie has hosted our family Christmas party at her home. It is always nicely decorated and the food is great! She keeps it well organized and every follows through with their assignments so there is plenty of food and activites for everyone. This year we had the kids dress up and act out the nativity while my dad read the story of the birth of our Savior out of the Bible. It was lots of fun! The kids had a blast dressing up and followed exactly what they were suppose to do. The spirit of the true Christmas story brings such peace to us. I am so thankful for my Savior and the opportunity to celebrate his life!   

BFFs

Katelyn and Emily are pretty inseparable! They are really close in age and both love to be together plus they are neighbors which works out very well. This fall they both got new baby sisters who are just 6 weeks apart. I hope Brooklyn and Sarah are as good friends as Katelyn and Emily when they get older! Don't they look so cute together!?!

Christmas Stocking Holder

I have always decorated each child's stocking and had bought exactly 8 stockings just in case about 7 or 8 years ago so they would all match. I recently finished Brooklyn's stocking of a Christmas angel. Most the ideas I have gotten from the Bucilla felt stocking kits I've seen online with my own twist of course. Each one is very unique and special! I didn't really have a good way of displaying our stocking since we don't have a fireplace/mantel and my shelf isn't long enough anymore. I have seen this idea at lots of craft sites and finally got around to making my own. We just bought a long board since we have so many stockings, vinyl lettering cut by my sister Stephanie, paint, nails and picture frame backings to hold it up. Next year, I may change it up and add drawer knobs but for now I am sticking with the nail heads for simplicity. I love it!

Ward Christmas Party

We attended our ward Christmas party last night! The food was great and the entertainment was exceptional. Each group in the ward was assigned to give a performance. The little primary children dressed in the traditional nativity costumes and sang "Silent Night". We wanted to let all the primary children dress up but it was quite a bit of work scrounging to make sure everyone had a costume of sorts. We were planning on some of the kids bringing their own but only four did. I will need to add to my supply, I was over the primary children acting out the nativity last year and had costumes for only the senior primary but with help from our primary chorister we came up with just enough costumes. This included one girl wearing the background, I had made last year, draped over her shoulders to look like a robe. I guess I'll be making a few trips to our local DI and buying some material so my stock is better for next year. They all did a great job singing and loved being dressed up. The other groups all did songs too. The Elder's Quorum gets points for most creativity. They sang "On the First Day of Christmas" with a bit of a twist. It was LDS oriented with what the Savior gives to us, like one living prophet, two home teachers, and so on.

Brooklyn is 2 months old!

Brooklyn is such a joy to have in our family! She has grown so much in the past two months. She responds with smiles when she is talked to. She loves being around people and gets upset when she is alone. Brooklyn adores her daddy and cuddles with him all the time. She has him wrapped around her little finger already! She is starting to follow Mommy with her eyes around the room and smiles at her all the time. The kids all love having their baby sister around. Matthew says, "She is here and she is happy!" She loves when they play with her. Brooklyn is very mild mannered. She is easy consoled which is a big relief. She loves her bottle. She wasn't much for nursing but has taken to her bottle quite well. Whenever she is hungry she will immediately stop crying if you give her a bottle and start chugging! Brooklyn loves bath time and being pampered. She rarely spends much time without someone holding her. Her newborn fuzz has all but fallen out and now she's bald like her grandpa. Brooklyn coos when we are all together eating dinner at the table. 

Matthew and I took Brooklyn to her two month appointment. She weighs 12 lbs 9 oz and is 23.5" tall. She was not very happy about the shots but she endured them well. We sure love having our little baby girl here!

Brooklyn's Baby Blessing

Brooklyn's baby blessing was beautiful. Zack gave her a very sweet blessing that made most everyone shed a tear. He blessed her to live up to her namesake Krystal, his sister who passed away earlier this year. We were blessed to have so many family members support our sweet baby. Brooklyn wore the same blessing dress as her sister, Katelyn. It was made by her grandmother out of the same material that was used for my wedding dress, very sentimental. She also wore a flower that her aunt Krystal had made for Katelyn last Christmas. It was so special and sentimental.
 

We had a luncheon at our house following the blessing where we celebrated Brooklyn plus added a little birthday celebration for Jed who turned 25! We are so thankful for all the support and love we get from our family and friends! Our little miss Brooklyn is well loved and adored!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Our Thanksgiving was great! We got to start the festivities on Wednesday instead of Thursday which was nice. Charles and Erica came down with baby Reed to share in the festivities. Thanksgiving started with our annual turkey bowl at 8 am followed by food and more food. Black Friday events started late Thursday night. Before we know it, Black Friday will start late Wednesday night and the name will be changed. Zack loves the thrill and excitement of all of it! Charles joined him in the fun.

The rest of Friday and all day Saturday was for playing and cuddling little babies. The kids had fun playing with family. We ate and ate, played and laughed all weekend, I guess that's what happens when you have such yummy food ready after a moments notice. Aren't microwaves just great?!?

Coloring Contest

Our little William took 1st place in his age group for a coloring contest from southernutahdeals.com. He was pretty excited to share his joy with everyone around him! He got two free movie tickets, a Jumping Jacks pass, a free cupcake from the Sweet Tooth Fairy and a Kit Kat bar. This is one excited guy! He did an awesome job too! 

Time sure flies when your having fun

Our sweet baby Brooklyn is one month old already! She is 22" long and weighs 10 pounds. She is such a joy to our family. We all loving her sweet spirit and content ways. She is a very easy going baby which is such a blessing. Brooklyn didn't take to nursing but loves the bottle instead. This was very discouraging at first but we are adjusting well. She was rapidly losing weight the first couple weeks and after supplementing she refused to nurse. Rather than fighting it, we succumbed to the bottle. Now she is more content and gaining weight steadily. Brooklyn loves bath time with her big brothers, Matthew and Joshua. She just relaxes completely in the warmth of the water and coos. She enjoys being surrounded by people and doesn't like to be alone. This is a blessing at our house as it is very full of happy and loving but loud children. Her brothers absolutely adore her and Katelyn is just like a second mother to her. Katelyn immediately goes to her with every cry. They have a sweet sisterly bond that will continue to grow as she gets older.

A couple weeks ago we were able to travel up north for two days where Charles and Erica's baby Reed's blessing took place in Roy, Utah. Brooklyn was a trooper! She traveled very well, now Matthew was a different story but she slept most of the trip. We were able to show off our little miss to lots of family who wouldn't be able to meet her otherwise. Traveling with such a young baby can be rather overwhelming. I'm thankful she was so relaxed and calm for the most part. We survived without any breakdowns just snow storms going to and from. It does make Saint George a little more appealing after traveling on snowy roads.

Brooklyn is adjusting to sleeping at nights but hasn't quite mastered that one yet. She is still getting up every three hours to eat and play. We'll keep working on it. She lets me know when she's hungry as she has a nice healthy scream that sends me in rush mode. She smiles all the time and loves kisses! She doesn't care much for being strapped in her car seat but is fine when it's all over. Brooklyn melts into you when you hold her, which I just love! We feel so blessed to have our sweet baby with us. She brings such a light to our family. I'm so thankful that Heavenly Father has entrusted this sweet little girl to our care.

Veteran's Day Program

The whole third grade performed a Veteran's Day program for our local veterans. He worked hard at memorizing his part and learning all the songs. He did an excellent job and was so glad that we were able to make it and see him.

Katelyn's participated in the Veteran's Day parade and program in Washington City. Her class sang a few songs and participated in the flag ceremony as well as the parade. She always does a great job! She had several family members watching and cheering for her throughout the parade. She felt pretty awesome!

Happy Halloween 2011

We had a great Halloween! Tim and Stephanie threw a Halloween kid party on Friday which got the kids in the spirit, for candy that is. The older kids participated in their Halloween parade at their school on Monday afternoon. We watched them make rounds on the field all decked out in their costumes. Daddy even was able to make it! It is a pretty big deal too! They all had great time in class partying until school let out! Joshua even got to participate since the preschool kids were included in the festivities. Daddy headed off to work but got home just in time to enjoy trick or treating; it is fun to see all their excitement! Matthew barely made it past our block before nodding off. The kids got more than enough candy. Joshua says he has enough to last him until next Halloween! We'll see...

Zack is a whoopee cushion, Katelyn a vampiress, Taylor a red ninja, William is Captain America, Joshua is Ben 10 (alien guy), Matthew is Superman, and Brooklyn is a kitty cat.

Pumpkin Carving

We finally got the pumpkin carving in just before Halloween. Zack found two great pumpkins for us. The kids drew out their designs and we made two pumpkins with a little bit of all their ideas. Taylor wouldn't have anything to do with pulling out the guts. He thought that part was gross. The other boys and Katelyn didn't mind it too much. Zack was elected to do all the carving. Katelyn wanted to roast the pumpkin seeds after. We found a great recipe that turned out sweet and cinnamon instead of the traditional roasted pumpkin seeds. Everyone helped out to make our fun pumpkins except Brooklyn but she smiled lots for us while we worked.

Matthew's Photo Shoot by Aunt Stephanie

Stephanie took these adorable pictures of Matthew and Jaerick at the park. He looks so grown up! Jaerick and Matthew love playing together. They are good buddies and loving cousins! Stephanie and Jaerick got to come stay with the kids while Daddy and Mommy were at the hospital with baby Brooklyn. Matthew loves playing with Jaerick!

Brooklyn's First Photo Session by Aunt Stephanie

Welcome Home Baby Brooklyn

All the kids were so excited to have their baby sister home and made her a banner which reads  "Welcome Home Baby Sister!" Everyone of them colored and decorated it for her.

Brooklyn was born the day Grandpa Belt got home from the hospital from open heart surgery. He was thrilled to finally meet her. We brought her over to meet her great-grandparents right after they released us from the hospital. She is getting spoiled from all her extended family with well wishes, visits, gifts and kisses! She is a very loved baby girl!

Brooklyn enjoys her sponges baths! She loves to be cuddled, kissed and talked to. She smiles all the time and snuggles right into you when you hold her. Our family is quite complete with this little angel! We feel so blessed to have her here.

Introducing Brooklyn Krystal Alvey

Our little miss Brooklyn was born October 10, 2011 @ 7:12 am.

She is 8 lbs 15 oz and 20.5 inches long!

She is a very happy little baby with all of us quite smitten by her!

We are so grateful that she arrived happy and healthy! My water broke just before midnight which I was so thankful for since that has always been how I knew to head over to the hospital. Stephanie came over to take care of the kids and we headed to the hospital around 1am. By 3 am I was ready for my epidural since my contractions had started getting a bit more intense. I didn't want to wait too long and experience the whole thing drug free. Zack went to sleep as soon as the epidural kicked in but almost missed the delivery since I couldn't get him to wake up very easily. He did wake up just a few minutes before she arrived at 7:12am.

She is absolutely adorable and all her siblings are so thrilled to hold, cuddle, and kiss her. Matthew was a bit confused at who this baby was or why I was holding her but after a few minutes, he was in love with her and wanted to hold her. She seems to have that effect on everyone. She has her daddy wrapped around her little finger already!

We are so thrilled to have her home with us and spending all the time we can getting to know her and love on her! She is such a blessing to our family! You can instantly feel Heavenly Father's love when you hold a new baby. The spirit they bring to your family is so strong and peaceful. She really does complete our family.

Raptor Romp 2011

The kids were able to participate in our schools annual fundraiser the Raptor Romp. Each grade level does a dance and this year they added the preschool. Joshua was pretty excited to be joining the older kids. The preschool kids danced to "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes!" As Joshua said it's a different one, which it was. He did a great job and performed very well without any discouragement. He is not shy at all!
 

The kindergarten performed a dinosaur song, "Don't go Dancing with a Dinosaur!" William was very excited to be able to dance to this song. He has been singing it at home for weeks before the performance. He really got into the dance and was a hoot to watch!

Taylor's group performed to the Black Eyed Peas "I Gotta Feeling." It was a basic box step repeated throughout. Taylor was so exact, he made sure he was always doing it perfect. He is a definite perfectionist! He did a great job and worked very hard too.

Since this is Katelyn's last year in Elementary school she went out to just have a good time. They danced to Taio Cruz's, "Dynamite." You could tell she was having a blast dancing and goofing around. It was fun to see her enjoying herself so much! All the kids did a terrific job and I'm sure the fundraiser made plenty of money since it was packed with people and the pizzas were being sold until well after the dances were completed. I'm so proud of my kids and all their hard work.

Joshua is in preschool

Our little Joshua is in preschool and loving it! The kids elementary school is putting on a preschool this year during the same time William is in kindergarten so it works perfect for me. He only goes two days a week but looks forward to the next class as soon as he's home. He loves his teachers, Mrs. Frank and Mrs. Staheli. The best part is that it is FREE! I am always into FREE especially when that part is a surprise! With the new baby on the way this is a great break for Joshua and keeps him busy. He'll come home and color or practice writing his name for "homework" which is very cute! We love our little Joshua and all his spunkiness!

Little Boys' Room

With baby on the way, we've been moving the kids rooms around a bit to make it all work out. We put the little boys downstairs and painted the walls a soft blue. It didn't quite look right with purple walls and butterflies.

 Both boys seem to love their new room and adjusting quite nicely! I found quilts at TJ Maxx and the metal stars as a consignment shop. My grandpa was a manager for the Union Pacific Railroad and so we have collected a few trains along the way.

The picture on the wall is actually four little yarn pieces that Zack's mom had made for him when he was a little boy. He never wanted to part with them and so they've become part of the boys decor.

This room has plenty of sentimental value to it and will easily adjust as these little men grow up! It has been fun making this home feel more and more like mine as we change things to our family and not just what was here originally.

My, oh my!

Zack was complaining that I don't take enough pregnancy pictures since Katelyn was born 10 years ago. You know first pregnancies everyone seem to take pictures of their growing bellies at least monthly but when you've had lots of babies it just isn't exciting to get fat! I decided to let Zack have his way and made him take pictures of me, right after he got home from church! This is my seventh pregnancy so there is no hiding this baby! We are down to the final countdown with only a few weeks left and weekly doctors appointments until she arrives. I am quite antsy to have her out and about but willing to wait for a healthy baby is worth it. Wish me luck! 

Baby Shower

Stephanie threw a baby shower for me since we are finally having a girl after four boys! I had actually gotten rid of all my baby girl items since it's been so long. Stephanie went all out with decorations and food; Jennifer helped out too! It was lots of fun and our little miss was showered with many gifts! I've been blessed living in a great neighborhood with lots of wonderful people who make sure I know they care. It has also been great to have both of my sisters so excited about this baby coming. They can get their baby fill without all the work! Thanks Stephanie for going out of your way for me. I really appreciate all you do!

William's First Day of School

William enjoyed his first day of school. He was very nervous but came home excited about his teacher, Mrs. Mathews, and all his new friends! This should be a great year for him. Here's hoping for a successful new year!

Back to School 2011

Katelyn and Taylor are back to school this week. William starts this next Monday since they are doing testing all week, he's all finished with his testing so just hanging out with us until Monday! I cannot believe the summer is already over and we are back to school! They are all very excited and nervous too!