Christmas Vacation

First off, let me just say, that there is nothing in this world that is like being with family. It is my little piece of heaven on earth. I know that things are not perfect, probably in any family, but all those problems, worries, and issues (within the family) seem to go away when we get together. Those problems that seem so big when we are apart, seem to get so much smaller and almost disappear when we are together. That is probably why I always feel it is so important to keep getting together, no matter how difficult it is. And I love it all the more when EVERYONE is there!

So now that is said, here are some pictures of our Christmas Trip/Vacation this year. Which went by WAY TO FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FIRST STOP: Bunkerville

After several stops along the way, we finally made it to my sister Cami's house in Bunkerville. Our kids, like always, had SO MUCH fun together. Here they are waiting for their dinner. There was plenty of table space for them to sit on, but of course they all want to be together on this little table we pulled out. So much more fun that way!
That also goes for sleeping right next to, almost on top of, each other.
Cami, Brandon, Tim and I stayed up late playing games (which is a favorite of ours) while our kids were doing who knows what. When we went to check on them, this is how we found them all. They must really love each other. What little sweethearts.

SECOND STOP: Logandale
Here is our master chef Brandon, finishing up his last touches on our Christmas meal. We have a little bit of a different traditional meal for Christmas at our house. Growing up we would spend some of our Christmas Vacations in Mazatlan Mexico and really enjoyed some of the food there. Thank goodness my sister married Brandon, whom went to Mexico on his mission and can make us the real deal. We just need to find the right Mexican stores to get the right ingredients. Thank goodness he is an excellent cook as well. My mouth is just watering thinking about those yummy tacos, escamochoes (spelling?), beans and rice.
My sister, Cami, giving her special touches to the meal as well. The cool thing about this year was the BBQ grill was not working, so Tim with his expert survival skills, built a fire with some rocks, grill, and some cedar chips and saved the day. Between all the men cooking the meat over the fire outside and the women doing all the chopping prep work inside..... We had a pretty fantastic meal.

Here are some of the kids playing while the adults were getting their talents set up/ready for our grand talent/show and tell tradition.
Sweet Baby Brea!
Dallas and Emery waiting for the show to begin.
Some of my family watching Tim give his talent
Back: Grandma Char, Erin, Zach (Erins husband)
Four wheeler: Lincoln, Zach, Ned, Nikki, and Gwen
Right: Jay (My dad)
Tim presenting his talent of different ways to make fire, including his favorite to show off, using the bow drill. After his talent, he gave each family one of his favorite lighters.

I wish I would have taken more pictures of our talents because they are always so fun and unique from being able to put your foot on your head (Lincoln, age 4) to shooting an arrow across the wash, in the dark, to start a massive bon fire (My Dad). This talent/show and tell night is also a different tradition of ours. We do this instead of exchanging gifts. We each put a lot of thought into it and share something special or unique about ourselves to give to everyone in attendance.
It is also a great way to see what everyone has been up to during that year.

THIRD STOP: Enoch
We actually only stopped in Enoch for about 30 minutes on our way to Delta to pick up a few things at one of our best friends, Andy and Jennys, house. I had to add this small stop just because I wanted to mention how special they are to us. They are friends that we will have for a life time and beyond. They are like family to us. I was having a pretty hard time leaving home in Logandale (thinking it might be my last trip there, because my parents are moving) and stopping at the Losees house just gave me such a bright spot in my day. That is just how it is with them. We can have sorrows together but we are always so happy to be together, even if it is only for 30 minutes. It also helped remind me that, home is not a certain location, but who you are with.

LAST STOP: Delta
We were able to make it to Tim's Parents house by Christmas Eve. Traveling on Christmas Eve was a little different, but it was nice to be able to see all of our family, so it made it all worth it.
Emery and Kaven showing off their new sleeping bags from Grandma Paula and Grandpa Alan. You may also notice the pillow that is under Emery's head from Santa. It has a pony on it and came in a whole sheet set. (I love the things she asked for this year!)
Kaven is still pretty pleased with his new train set he got from Santa. Tim in the background helping him set it up. Sometimes I wonder who has more fun with this gift. He he...
Emery and Sadie (best buds) sporting their new chef attire.
Kaven was pretty thrilled that he got a home made car mat as well.
Emery sporting her new "two wheel" scooter as she calls it. This will be perfect in our court when the weather starts warming up.

We had such a great few days off for Christmas. I have to say that this is probably my favorite Christmas and Christmas seasons that I can remember. I am a little sad to see it over but glad I have the memories and New Year to look forward to. This year we get a new member to our family. Time to start getting ready because we are excited and I know it is going to come faster than I realize!

Christmas Projects

O.K. I am going to toot my own horn for this post. This Christmas I wanted to make a blanket for Tim's parents and one thing led to another and I ended up sewing 11 different items as gifts for people. It was "SEW" much fun. Ha ha..... pun intended. Though it was fun, it was a TON of work and I spent almost every free minute I had from October until right before Christmas finishing all these projects. I think I will take a little break from sewing even though to my delight I received some great sewing tools for Christmas (Thanks Tim!!!). Which means I might only take a week off. I am all ready for my next project of sewing curtains for the kids new room (sense the baby is coming in about 3 months and is going to take over their old room).

Here is the blanket I made for Tim's parents. The top is all out of old pants (jeans and Pajama Pants). I love it when things that were going to be thrown away can be re purposed for something new. What a GREAT feeling!
Here are the three chef hats and three aprons I made for my kids 2nd cousin, cousin (Sadie) and my girl Emery. I have always wanted to know how it make a chefs hat and after some on-line research I came up with these babies. They were easier than I expected, though still took some time.
Here are the two car mats I made for Trace (nephew) and Kaven. These by far took the longest to make but were very rewarding. Kaven saw me making these and could not wait for me to finish them. While sewing, I had a certain little boy driving cars on it at any angle he could get.
Here is the car mat rolled up when not in use.
And last, but not least. These were by far my favorite thing to sew! They were pretty fast to make too. They are little baby shoes for my baby nephew Aden. I couldn't quit gooing over them.

Anyway, that is all. Thought it would be fun to share some things that I have been up to this Christmas season. It sure made the holidays exciting. I think everyone enjoyed their gifts as well, which makes it an extra bonus.

It's Begining to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Everywhere you go
Take a look at my two and four (yr. old)
Decorating once again
With tractors, cars and pet shops, toys galore.


It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Parties at ever turn (Tim's work party).But the Prettiest sight to see
is my family by the tree,
inside our own front door.

A pair of sheets with a pillow (pony), A scooter that scoots
Is the wish of Emery whats best.
(Emery at the Stake PJ Christmas Breakfast)
Planes that will dive and cars that will ride
Is the hope of my Kaven West.
And Tim and hardly wait for the day
When the semester ends again (December 15th).
(Tim and Kaven at the Ward Party. Kaven was a cow for the Nativity)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Everywhere you go
There's a party for the Whatcott blend
One for our ward as well
The fancy kinds with Nativities a glow.


It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Santa's on his way.
(Tim Kaven, Santa, and Emery at our Village Christmas Party)
And the thing that will get him here
Are my kids with hearts a cheer
With Christ the center of our day.

Thanksgiving and More.

We were lucky enough to spend Thanksgiving in Manti this year at Tim's Grandma and Grandpa Johnsons house. We had such a great time and the food was FANTASTIC!!!
Emery waiting patently to eat dinner at the kids table.

After eating dinner, some of Tim's cousins took Kaven and Emery for a ride on their Rhino. Brady took Kaven for a ride on the fourwheeler, and Grandpa Alan took the kids for a ride on the fourwheeler to the farm and then for a ride on the tractor. Needless to say, my kids were in HEAVEN!!! I even got most my Christmas shopping done with Tim's Mom, Paula. What a great weekend!

AND SOME OTHER RANDOM THINGS IN NOVEMBER......
Kaven and Emery playing in the leaves. Living in the village, they will leave these HUGE piles of leaves around to suck up with a giant hose connected to a truck later. Great times for us because we can play in the leaves without having to rake them up! One of the many reasons why I LOVE LIVING HERE!!
Tim being such a great dad like ALWAYS!

So CUTE!! Emery was into dressing up as a supers hero for awhile. For her whole life, her favorite color by far has always been purple. Then one day she decided her favorite color is red. Though purple is still pretty special. When Tim got home from school she wanted to try riding his scooter (Tim rides this scooter home from school everyday. It saves him SO MUCH time because his classes are up by the hospital and he can ride all down hill. This has been one of the best investments we have ever made. It saves him about 45 min. to get home ) Anyway, Emery jumped on the scooter and rode it for the first time. She now wants a scooter for Christmas.
Nick and Tc in the back. Kaven, Trace, Sade and Emery hanging out one day in Delta. Fun cousins.

My Sister Came!!!

In November my Sister Camrin and her family came to visit us. I LOVE it when they come and my kids LOVED having their cousins here. Thanks for taking time out of you trip to see us Parks!

Ha, ha, I thought this was so cute. This is SO KAVEN!!! He still absolutly LOVES cars (and anything that goes). He will make a road/track out of anything. This was for sure one of the more creative ideas. These are my sisters shoes.

Duncan and Kaven playing with Kaven's cars
Emery and James playing a game on my sister Cami's phone.

We really love being with family and hope that some day we can live closer to everyone so we can see them more. Not to say we are not grateful for where we are right now. :)

Hills Family Reunion 2011

A while back we had our Hills Family Reunion, planned by Erin and my Mom. It was SO MUCH fun. We took family pictures, went bowling, swimming, and had a BBQ all in one day. It was tons of fun and exhausting. Just check Kaven out in one of the pictures. Thanks everyone for making it. We love getting together with family. Sorry I didn't get any pictures of swimming (in the ice cold water) or the Bon fire/BBQ. Great times!!


A few of my cute sisters (Nikki and Jodi).


Emery was actually REALLY good at bowling. It was her first time and she got three strikes in a row without even using the bumpers. It is not saying much, but she even beat me. She was very proud of this, I guess I was too.





All the grand kids on my side of the family, minus Kaven. He would NOT stay in the picture. I guess we did pretty good with that many kids though. I sure love all these cute kiddos! They all have different and fun personalities. So cute!

Boy or Girl?

Cut this cake, give it a whirl, to find out if we are having a ........







blue for boy.......pink for girl........................
it's a ...........................








......................................GIRL!!!!!!!!!

Introducing our new little girl coming around April 9th 2012

We love her so much already!

P.S. Sorry for the sloppiness of the cake. We had an ultra sound in the morning last Friday and were headed to Delta (Tim's family) right after. We decided to announce this news in a fun way as we were packing the car. So, I baked the cake while we were packing, picked up frosting in the store while we were gassing up our car. Then I frosted it while we were driving to Delta. I don't think very many people can say that they frosted a cake while driving in a car. Another weird thing I can add to my list. He He...