christmas day 09

This was probably her favorite gift ever! My parents got My a mermaid toy that goes in the tub. When we got home for the night around 7, she jumped in the tub with it and played for over an hour. Filled the hot water twice. She begged to get in!

Derek with his tonka trucks.

Every year my parents give the kids pj's. every year they get their picture taken too. this year they got them on christmas day and once they opened them they all took off running to change into them. they love this tradition.

Derek got this hat and my little brother bryce put it on him and he hated it!

All the kids waiting for their gifts.

Mylee got a coloring book and these little markers. she was so excited for them.

The older kids have been begging my mom to make them a little house on the prairie hat. My didn't quite know what to think of it but they all loved them. My mom always put so much time into making them things.

My loves her cousins! They got makeup and she was getting all dazzled up by Kait and Kar. We had a fun time at my parents house Christmas day. We had lots to eat and hung out and visited. All the older boys got remote control helicopters and they flew them all day. They were like little kids with these! I'm so grateful I have family close. All of us are right by each other, on Laynes side and mine and I can say they are some of my best friends. I love doing things with them and know they would do anything for me. Our parents are so good to us and do so much for us too. So grateful for them all.

santa came!

when we finally decided to go wake our girl up around 9:30 to tell her santa came this is how we found her. she decided she wanted to sleep on the floor instead of her nice comfy bed. of course she couldn't leave her eyeor out either. she had him snuggled up right next to her. derek had woken up alittle earlier so we decided to let her sleep until she woke up. she is too grumpy if you wake her up not on her terms! we reminded her that santa maybe came and she was so excited. derek was crawling down the hall and she was waiting for him until he kept going the other way. she decided she didn't care to wait. she was so excited when she saw all their presents. derek ended up liking his tonka truck santa brought for him. to be honest though, he would have been completely happy with the 2 smarties suckers and the orange he thought was a ball. he kinda didn't really care about much more. mylee was supper fun this year! she loved every present. she wanted to open all of dereks too. when she was opening her petshops, she saw what it was then went hog wild on it. layne and i were laughing so hard! santa brought her a big horse and she loves it! she is so into horses right now. also she got some dress ups in a chest and she told us santa brought her a big treasure. holidays are so much more fun with kids! derek got lots of cars stuff from the disney movie. he loves all the little cars. he got a woodie from toy story and when he opened it mylee said derek has a great big woodie! layne and i were laughing so hard. i know, i know, we need to grow up but who cares. it was perfect timing too cause right before they finished opening all their gifts my mom, dad, layne and bryce came by to see them. it was way fun having them here while they opened some. after gifts i made german pancakes and instead of cooking them in a casserole dish you put them in big muffin tins. then when they are done you put fresh fruit and syrup on them. they will be our new tradition. it was so good. santa was good to the kids this year and it was so fun watching them enjoy it.

christmas eve 09

this year we went to Laynes side to have Christmas eve. it was a fun evening. his mom wanted all the kids in the nativity outfits and to get a picture. it was freezing but they did pretty well and it turned out cute. we had tons of good food and opened gifts. ken read the story of the saviors birth. it was really fun to be together as a family. before we went up i had mylee and derek open their pajamas and then we went and fed the reindeer so santa's sled could come to our house. mylee had alot of fun doing that. the kids fell asleep on the way home and layne and i just hung out. it was a fun night.

Banks party!

I was cracking up when I came out and saw Kels lifting up My for a drink. She's close to her size.

Another family Christmas party! It was so fun to get together again. I swear we are always doing something. I love how close our families all are. Santa came and Mylee loved him. I thought she would be scared and she ran right up and got on his lap without us. I was shocked! Derek was analizing him pretty good. He didn't cry though. It was another fun party with the crazy Banks family!

Happy birthday to mymy

I decided to have a little playdate party with her cousins. She loved it! She has been so excited for her birthday and couldn't wait so I thought I would make it kinda fun for her. Nothing too exciting but she had fun. They played and made a mess with the cupcakes!

I seriously can't believe my baby girl is three and headed to sunbeams! It is so crazy and I'm so sad she is getting so big! It goes way too fast! We had a little party for her on her actual birthday with the grandparents. I made peach cobbler and we just hung out and opened gifts. She loved the attention! Earlier in the week I asked Josee if she wanted to go to the movie with us and go see Princess and the frog. They loved it. Braylee was cracking me up the things she would say about her prince! Then we had her little cousins party. I wasn't gonna do it this year but she was so excited. We decorated the house the night before and she LOVED the balloons her dad put everywhere! They were all down the hall and in the family room and she thought it was pretty cool. She kept telling us to sing to her under the ABC's. (happy birthday sign) She wanted a elephant cake so we made that. It was such a fun year. We gave her a couple things for her doll house and Cinderellas dress up. She loved it!

Oh christmas tree...

This is what Mylee did the whole time we set up the tree. Little turd! She was so excited and fell asleep on us after trying to find the best deal at 4 different lots! Courtesy of her dad.

Like I said....this boy has to have everything in his mouth. Only one shattered ornament this year. I was in the office editing and I hear this break and then his little voice saying uh oh... how do you get mad at that?

Since Mylee was asleep the entire night we did the tree we saved the star for her to put on the next night. She was so excited!

The night the tree got all decorated. He loved the train!

Chubs eating a celery stick from the delicious wings we got from Wingers.

Layne worked up quite the appetite since we went to 4 different tree lots this year! He wanted to find the best deal! It's so funny how kids change things. Our first year of marriage we got in a huge fight cause I didn't find the perfect one at the first place we looked and now it's him doing it! We let Mylee pick out the tree this year. I kinda put my foot down with the ones she really wanted. They were so small Layne said we could set it up on the table. Really? That was one of the dumbest ideas I'd heard in a long time so it got shut down real quick. hehe. We had so much fun out looking for a tree though. Mylee found this one and we brought it home and decorated it in no time. I think I'm addicted to smaller trees! So much less work. We decided that every year we are going to stop by for some wings from Wingers and make hot chocolate! Such a fun night for us. I love this time of year and making fun memories!

homeless

Layne and Mal.

Mylee and Malorie....she loves her cousins! I'm so glad she has a bunch around her to grow up with!

Ok.....so this was one of the funnest nights and coolest experiences I've had in a long time! My sister and her husband are the ward missionaries and leader in their ward. They had a guy names David that was there for a bit but ended up leaving up to s.lake. He ended up getting baptized and they have kept friends with him. I left my camera out in the car for this part but if I can get ahold of Shels picts I'll post some later. They invited a bunch of us family up to go and take clothes and shoes and a bunch of other things needed to a homeless shelter house. This is where David is living. We got there and the workers were telling us how they are all vets that have served in war for us and from what they have seen they kinda have gone mental abit. There was this young nurse that was so cute. She was in her 40's probably. They told us that she served as a nurse. These people here don't have family or friends that come around. They have pretty much nobody! We got there and set out all the clothes and goodies for them to come and see what they could use. I was put back in place and realized how blessed me and my little family are and how easy it is to get caught up in thinking you need it all. There was one little lady, named Audrey. She had on a pair of shoes that she found in a dumpster 5 years ago! They were getting holes in the toe and completely worn. We didn't have any her size so we told her we were going to go back up and bring her a new pair. She said that would be nice but hers were still pretty good too. I about died! This is the same lady that hasn't had a visitor in over 16yrs! She loved the little kids too. None of them took more then what they needed and were so grateful for what they received that night. We took all the kids and I'm so glad that they were able to have that experience. I thought about leaving mine home cause they aren't old enough to really know but I'm so glad I didn't cause they lit up around them. They loved the little ones. The nurse told us that she had to go do some artwork and came back with my sister a thank you note that she drew a picture on! Layne helped one guy that was close to being blind. Layne told him he could take whatever he needed to go ahead and look around. He said that would be kinda hard cause he can't see so he walked him around and got him a good pile. Also there was a man with a long silver ponytail. We walked in and started setting up and he went in his room and put on his nicer shoes and came out with 2 dark choc. candy bars for the kids! You know, I probably would have been alittle nervous with them out on the street and it sure taught me a big lesson. I will look at them and recognize that they are there and go out of my way alittle more now for people like that. I think it is amazing that they went to war for our freedom and now have a life like that. You never know peoples real stories. I told Layne after I would love to know their background and there real stories. Probably pretty interesting! It's so funny how when you go and serve and think you are helping them out so much, you learn so much! It was an experience I am so grateful for and hopefully we can go up there alot more times. After that we went and got pizza and decided to brave the cold and go see the lights. It was so much fun! Thanks Joel and Shel for inviting us and giving us that experience!

randomness

Derek is a crack up right now. He has to have something in his mouth at ALL times! He crawls around and if he needs to hawl it with him he puts it in his mouth and off he goes. I love this boy!

I'm trying to teach My that she needs to make her bed. This was one of the first times she made it and was so proud after!

Just some random picts of the kids. Mylee is completely obsessed with horses right now. She has to have everyone in the house to play with at all times. So funny their stages they go through. I love listening to her imaginary play. She puts them on time out and gets mad at them and I sit and crack up cause she sounds just like me with her. Kinda sad!