Traditions

Here is the final product of the tradition that we started this year for Christmas. We read a scripture about Christ each day and Madeline got to color a book on the chart. Madeline really looked forward each day to a new story and coloring a book on the chart. We will do this every year.

Christmas Update

Here is our Christmas update that we sent out this year. Some letters got sent back to me and I didn't have everyone's addresses, so if I missed anyone, here is our Christmas update:

Happy Holidays!
We hope this letter finds you all well and happy. Our family has had a very busy year. Andrew graduated Dental School from Nova Southeastern University in May. We moved from Florida to Utah in August. We spent a couple of months traveling and having fun before our move. We were able go to Disney World several times. Madeline was barely tall enough to go on Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Railroad, and Tower of Terror for the first time. Her absolute favorite though, was to meet all of the princesses. We are happy to be in Utah and closer to family but we will really miss Florida (especially the beautiful beaches).

Andrew is thrilled to be done with school so he can have extra time to do the things he hasn’t had time for these last eight years of school. He got a job working with a dentist in Roy and really enjoys the office and the people he works with. He will however, miss his job at Delta and all those free flights! He just got called to be the secretary in Young Men’s. Andrew has been able to participate in flag football, volleyball, and basketball.

Staci spent most of this year packing and unpacking (or so it seems). She and Andrew spent 5 days traveling across the country in a Penske truck while Madeline stayed with her Grandparents. We spent a couple of days at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure and stopped in St. Louis to visit the Gateway Arch. We crossed 10 states and in one day traveled more than 1000 miles. It was quite the road trip. Staci got called to be second counselor in the Primary and loves it. She enjoys reading, cooking, and doing craft projects.

Madeline turned four this year. She has been taking gym classes and really enjoys it. Madeline’s favorite thing about our new house is that we have a private entrance to a park in our backyard. Madeline loves to dress up, read books, and play games (especially hide-and-seek). Madeline got 4 goldfish for her birthday and named them “all Freds”. She really enjoys feeding them and helping change their water (although, we fear for their life every time she “helps”). Madeline is such a sweetheart and such a great help to her parents. We are so grateful that she is a part of our family.

We really appreciate the love and support from each of you. We are especially grateful for this wonderful time of year we have to reflect upon our Savior, Jesus Christ, and celebrate His birth. We wish you lots of happiness this holiday season and throughout the coming year!

Love,
Andrew, Staci, and Madeline

Ugly Sweater Party

Tonight we went to my sister's house for an Ugly Sweater Party. We had a pot luck dinner with cafe rio tacos (my favorite). We played lots of games and voted on who had the ugliest sweater. There were some pretty ugly sweaters. We got a babysitter for all of the cousins so it was really nice to have an evening of fun without kids running around. We had a great time!

All of us in our ugly sweaters.

The Winners: Katie and Mike (tiny Tim).

Andrew and I in our ugly sweaters.

Covered car.

My brother-in-law left his car at my parent's house for a couple of days. So my brothers decided to cover his car with snow. They are lucky a snow plow or a car didn't run into it. Here is a picture of Andrew in front of the snow covered car.

Eye Exams

I am so grateful that my Dad is an Optometrist. Andrew and I got eye exams today. It's been 2 years since my last eye exam; that's a long time. I need to get new reading glasses because I lost mine when we moved from Florida. I do a lot of reading and reading glasses make a world of difference. Here are some pictures of our check-ups:

Christmas Day!

MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

We spent Christmas Day with Andrew's side of the family. The weather was horrible, it was snowing like crazy. All of Andrew's sisters that live in SLC were not able to come visit because of the weather. Eric and his family were able to come down after the storm passed. Andrew's grandparents were able to come visit also. So we had a small crowd. It was actually a really relaxing day!

Madeline and her many facial expressions.

Andrew and Madeline with Spiky the dog.

Our little family with Grandpa and Grandma.

Maddy showing off her new Snow White barbie that she got from her grandparents.

Christmas Eve Night

We visited family on Christmas eve night and spent most of the weekend with them. We had a fun Christmas eve eating, playing games, and opening presents. My parents made prime rib for dinner and it was so awesome (except for the fire in the oven that burned the outside of it, ha ha). Santa even came to visit. The kids really enjoyed that. Here are some pictures:

All the cousins making snowmen out of marshmallows.

Dan, Andrew, and Mark (getting a little too close).

Paul, Dad, and Mom relaxing with Roxy.

Princess Madeline with her new crown and shoes.

SANTA VISITS!!!

Maddy with Santa.

Andrew and I had to sit on Santa's lap too (I mean come on, you are never too old, right?)

Santa's helper and my sister, Katie, playing Christmas songs on accordians.

OPENING PRESENTS!!

Andrew got a new game for Christmas called Spy Alley; it is super fun.The grandkids opening their presents from Grandpa and Grandma.
It's pajamas!!
Madeline modeling her Tinkerbell pj's.
All of the cousins in their pj's from Grandpa and Grandma. They are so cute.
Time to get to bed so Santa can come!

Christmas Eve Morning

Merry Christmas!

Santa came to our house early this year. We woke up Christmas eve morning to a room full of presents. We had a great breakfast then read the Nativity and read some scriptures. Then we opened our presents. Maddy got toys, clothes, a sleeping bag, candy, castle, and table and chairs set. Andrew got a new tennis racket, shoes, clothes, ties, games, etc. I got jewelry, some kitchen stuff (like a griddle and kitchen aid shredder/slicer), etc. Our little family got some games and DVDs. We had a great Christmas. Here are some pictures:

Us on Christmas Eve morning.

Maddy's table and chair set.

Madeline and her new castle and Cinderella dress.

Playing with her castle.

Rasmussen Family Party

Moving from one Christmas party to another. Maddy and I met Andrew in South Jordan for the Rasmussen Family Christmas party. This is Andrew's Mom's side of the family. For the last couple of years, we've had the party at Andrew's Uncle's work instead of his Grandparent's home. It's worked out really nice that way. We had dinner, talent show, white elephant gift exchange, and a visit from Santa Claus. It was really nice to see extended family that we haven't seen for a while.

TALENT SHOW

Trent and Madeline were quite the entertainers. VISITING WITH FAMILY



VISIT FROM SANTA
GIFT EXCHANGE

Maddy and Rachel exchanged gifts with each other. Maddy got a webkinz animal that she really was really excited about.

Edmunds Family Party

It's always been a tradition in my family that we visit our Grandma on Christmas day. This year was a little different. We all went to visit her the Saturday before Christmas. That way Christmas day won't be so crazy for everyone. Andrew wasn't able to come because he had to work. I always enjoy visiting my Grandma. She is so sweet and cheerful. She is 94 years old and is doing great. Maddy and I had a great visit with our extended family and took some pictures.

Three Generations.

Four Generations.

Grandma Ed, Maddy, and I.

My sweet Grandma and I.

Gingerbread House

Madeline and her cousin, Samantha, made gingerbread houses over Thanksgiving weekend. I finally got some pictures of the gingerbread house that Maddy, Grandma Long, and I worked on. We had a lot of fun making them. Madeline and Samantha especially liked the candy. Here are some pictures of the final product:

Traditions.

This year we started some new traditions with Madeline. We wrapped up 25 different Christmas books (I got most of them from DI so they were very inexpensive; library books would work great too). Madeline opens one present each night before bed and we read her the story. She has really enjoyed getting to open one present each evening. Another tradition that we started this year is in this month's Friend magazine. There are 25 different stories about Jesus from the scriptures starting with his birth and going through his life, death, and resurrection. Each evening we read the story of Jesus and Madeline gets to color that set of scriptures for the day. We have had so much fun that I think we will do it each year.

Here is a picture I took of the books wrapped up.

Here is the activity from this month's Friend magazine. Madeline colors in the set of scriptures each day.

Four Year Old Pictures.

I took Madeline to get some 4 year old pictures taken at Target Studios(even though I am a couple months off). The pictures turned out really cute and Target does a really good job (and they aren't too expensive). Here are some of the different poses they did.