Merry Christmas!

Some photos from Christmas morning.

Our tree. One tradition we have is that the tree is set up and decorated prior to Christmas. Then on Christmas Eve the kids wrap the gifts they have made or purchased for each other and place them under the tree. After everyone is in bed the parents add all other gifts - of course Santa adds his contributions later. This tradition is more of a necessity born of having toddlers that would make a big mess if presents were put out earlier. An added benefit is that mom stays sane - no shaking or guessing or "accidentally" ripping gifts.

Jingle all the way!

Another tradition from my family is "jingle-belling" around the house prior to going downstairs and opening presents. We have to line up from oldest to youngest and sing jingle bells or other Christmas carols as we go from room to room. I have fond memories of this as a child...the anticipation...the giggling...the early morning voices singing so "well"...the older kids trying to sneak a peek at the tree and it's goodies (many of our gifts were not wrapped as children - but there was often a screen placed in front of the tree).

I remember one Christmas when my older sister, Lysa, had the chicken pox and couldn't jingle-bell with us. She totally drove us crazy by sitting on the arm of the couch and peeking around the screen that hid the tree and presents from the rest of us. Every time we entered the living room she would give terrible hints...or laugh...or smile knowingly. Of course my dad would always tease us by having us pass the tree multiple times before leading us again to another room in the house to continue our singing. Finally, when most of us had given up hope of EVER reaching the presents, he would stop in front of the screened tree. Hooray!

Allen isn't so "mean" with the kids. They better be glad I am the designated video camera operator or they would suffer much the same fate. Hey - it makes for fun memories.

Santa always has many helpers in our house.

Tradition #3: Each child gets a turn to pass out presents. They put on the Santa hat and make sure each person has one present. Then we all open that gift and oooo and awwww. After everyone has a chance to enjoy that gift the Santa hat is passed and another child gets a turn. I like how it slows down the frenzy and allows the kids to actually process mentally what they were given, by whom, and say thank you.

I love Oliver's excitement in this photo.

Some more fun photos:

After we are done with the chaos at the tree every one takes their newly acquired possessions up to their room. The kids play with their toys or games and mom makes a big Christmas breakfast. We spend the rest of the day listening to carols, playing games, watching various Christmas movies and concerts, and enjoying time together as a family.

'Twas the Night before Christmas

Christmas Eve holds a few special traditions in our house...mixed from both mine and Allen's childhood - and a few of our own.

First tradition of the evening is a dinner of homemade chicken noodle soup. After cleaning up we all gather around the Christmas tree for a family Christmas devotional. This is comprised of Christmas songs, a family prayer and scriptures, stories or poetry about the birth of Christ. We "end" the evening with the kids opening one gift from Dad and Mom - new pj's or slippers or a robe - whichever they happen to need most that year. Allen added another event this year. He hooked up the projector to the computer and played a movie on the wall for the kids before bed. He reasoned that there was no way they were going to bed anytime soon anyway. I think this one might stick too.


Katrina leads us in a Christmas carol.


Opening the PJ's.


Amelia wasn't feeling too well. Right after snapping the photo Allen took her and she threw up on him. I think Allen would prefer not to make that part of our night of traditions.

Mini-chef's

Summer Flashback: Old Faithful Tour

July 09-

Next stop at Yellowstone was Old Faithful.


We waited...and waited...and waited. As we waited the kids played in some dirt. They seemed to like that.



After checking out Old Faithful our group split up. Cindy & kids, cousin Lauren, and our family stayed in the area to do a "little" hike. The layout is on the map in the middle of the above collage. We started at Old Faithful and did a loop up to the Morning Glory pool. The map said it was 1.4 miles. I assumed it was 1.4 miles for the loop - it meant each way. It took hours with all the kiddos - and it was getting chilly and dusk by the time we were done. It was very cool to check out all the hot spots on the way.



On our long tour of the area.



How could we resist posing by the Beauty Pool?



The reason for our sore feet. It really was pretty - even though the sign said that the colors had faded considerably over the past decades due to pollution. Cindy insisted that this was "the" photo op of the area. This is what postcards were made from and we HAD to see it. I think she was a little nervous that we didn't think the long walk was worth it...it was definitely worth it. The hike itself - hanging out, laughing, kids chasing around enjoying the sights, getting a steam bath from erupting smaller geysers - it all made it worth it.



A surprise on the way back to the parking area. The beehive geyser erupted as we were going by. The eruption was much more spectacular than Old Faithful, mostly because you could get so close. The Beehive isn't predictable, I think within a day or so, so it was a real treat. People closer were coming away soaked from the spray. It was getting a bit chilly so I was glad the kids were not tempted to get wet.

One final note:
So here we are. At Old Faithful and surrounding area. Hundreds of people. Miles of trails. Huge, packed parking lot. Been there for hours - I think about 7 by then. We were finally heading out and Abagial is no where to be found. There were huge crowds around the Beehive geyser and milling around Old Faithful still. We couldn't spot her bright red shirt anywhere. Come to find out that Allen had challenged her, betting that she couldn't run all the way to the car; maybe 1/2 mile from where we were, but certainly not within sight. Well, in the distraction of the Beehive geyser erupting she took off - but none of us saw her. Our group was a bit spread out at that point. When we all gathered, she was gone. Cindy hung with the rest of the kids at Old Faithful while Allen and I searched the crowds in different directions. Kind of a nervous feeling when a child is gone - even though you are sure that they are ok. We finally realized that the only explanation was that she took off to the car so Allen headed towards the parking area and caught up with her as she was coming back - wondering why we were taking so long. And I was so sure I had absolutely instilled "BUDDY SYSTEM" into the kids...now we know.

Summer Flashback: Yellowstone National Park

July 09 -

After leaving Utah, we headed up to Yellowstone National Park to spend a couple of days with some of the Bergstrom family. We met up with Grandma Bergstrom, Keith, Lysa, Laine, Christina & Nathanel & family, Cindy & kids, Stacey & family.

We camped for two nights. It was the beginning of July. It was FREEZING!!!! I figured it was summer - it wouldn't be too bad - I was sorely mistaken. Temps got into the 30's at night.

Our first night there the plan was to set camp and then go into West Yellowstone to see a play at the Playmill Theatre. Grandma Bergstrom had purchased tickets to The Secret Garden. What an awesome treat that was! Beautiful music, talented actors & crew, very well done show. We all loved it. (THANK YOU GRANDMA!)

Most families arrived ahead of us to secure camp spots. They set up in the rain. Brrrr. We arrived late, which actually worked out as the rain had stopped. Then it was a mad dash to the Playmill before the seats were given away.

After the play we all went to Grandma's hotel - a very nice, warm, comfy, cozy hotel - for dinner. None of us really wanted to brave the 30 degree weather for camping. Alas, the hotel only allowed 6 guests in the room, not 27 - so off to the campsite we went.

I really can't complain though as camping was my suggestion in the first place...that was months prior to actually realizing how FREEZING it can be in July in Montana. Next time we'll either convince ourselves it wasn't really that bad and try it again - or spring major $$$ for a hotel.

First day in Yellowstone was beautiful. The weather during the day was in the 60's and 70's - perfect.

Some of the highlights are in the following photo collages:

One of our first "stops" was to pull over and Oooo and Ahhh at a huge herd of Bison. This picture doesn't even show a 1/4 of the herd. There were well over 100; all lying around or grazing. What the photo does show accurately was how close we were. A little too close for my comfort. As the kids walked behind groups of people taking pictures they got WAY too close at times. Very cool sight though.

Next stop was the Fountain Paint Pot. It was a little thermal area that is still evolving - according to the sign. It had a nice boardwalk to stroll around the area. It did smell awfully bad, as Oliver points out in his photo. I also remember the bathroom line taking almost as long as the actual hike.


We drove to Old Faithful and had a picnic in the trees. The kids had a great time playing...so much fun in fact that they kind of forgot to eat. So lunch lasted a really long time. However, by the time we finally packed up there was not much food left. They must have really worked up an appetite!

(More to come)

Summer Flashback: Visit to SLC, Utah

This post is from July 09.

During our visits to Utah we enjoy taking the kids to downtown Salt Lake City. We walk around downtown and check out the LDS church sites. We were joined by Aunt Keri and Aunt Jill and their families as well as cousins Skyler and Selena.


This collage is from when we visited Temple Square and the visitor's centers.
(The photo of the temple was taken from the top of the Zion's Bank building - pretty view.)

The map of Jerusalem is a huge topographical map and model of the city from the time of Christ. There are little pin lights that light up the areas of the city and surrounding countryside where important events occurred - especially during the last week of the Savior's life. The kids thought this was very cool and spent quite a bit of time there. Another highlight was viewing the new exhibit that focuses on families - I HIGHLY recommend that to everyone who visits. (It is up on the top floor in a room adjoining the Christus statue.)


Next we walked around downtown a bit. We crammed into an elevator at Zion's bank...the photo shows 10 Coleman cousins, but many others and adults couldn't fit in the photo. It was a tight fit. We also went to the Church Office Building and went up to the observation level. The photos of the capital building and mountains are from that vantage point.
I love the top left photo - it shows cousins Hailey and Hillary Heath. So cute.


Another stop included an unofficial tour of the Conference Center. The roof has gardens and a tour - apparently you are not supposed to just go up and check it out. Or so we found out. A nice guide let us bend the rules and took us around anyway. It was amazing all the gardens, pathways, and water features that are on the roof.

Abagail really wanted to go inside the Conference Center main auditorium, so I took her while the rest of the families headed to the museum. As a bonus the tour guide took Abagail and I over to the church art exhibit. The original paintings that were included in the Book of Mormon were on display. They were huge, as big as the wall in some cases, you could see so much detail and color in them - they were beautiful. Both Abagail and I were very impressed!



Last stop was the Museum of Church History (or some name like that - I never quite remember names of museums). They always have a rotating childrens exhibit that is very "hands-on" and the kids always look forward to this stop. This year the exhibit included costumes and a skit for recreating Lehi's Tree of Life dream. The kids had a ball performing the skit with their cousins.

I thought the middle photo was so cute. Up close you can see Oliver's frustration as his "stained glass" window falls apart...again. It took two people to finally get the window to stay.

It was a very long, busy, tiring, and fun day.


This was one of my favorite photos of the kids.

Summer Flashback: Yellowstone sneak peek

Each year I create a "year in review" album for Grandparents. This year I made some postcards from places we visited this summer.

This is the one I did for Yellowstone. Since I haven't gotten around to an official blog posting...I decided to just do the postcard - as a sneak peek.

Summer Flashback: Train to SLC

Here is a "Summer Flashback" post.

I never got around to completing the posts for our summer vacation. Every once in awhile I'll jump back and add a new post of things we saw or did.

This is from July 09. Oliver loves all things concerning trains. To help celebrate Oliver's 5th birthday our family rode the light rail - "train" - to Salt Lake City. The older kids had done this before and remembered it as a highlight of vacations past; so everyone was excited to go.


Kids waiting at the station in Sandy.

We waited...and waited...and waited. We had forgotten that the kiosk only took cash. So we arrived a few minutes prior to scheduled departure and hustled up to the platform. Realizing that we needed cash, which we NEVER carry, Allen jogged back to the car to drive to an ATM. The train came and went...another train came and went. Finally Allen returned (no close ATM's) and we waited some more for the third train.

One bonus: the kiosk only gave gold dollar coins as change. We ended up with about 22 of those. The kids thought it was really cool to check out the different presidents on them.


Family hanging out on the train.


Arrival of the return train in SLC. It was a really long one - 6 "trailers" according to Oliver.


Simon boards the train

Oliver's assessment: When I asked if he like the train he said, "Yep - but I didn't like that it was so bumpy - and it was kind of long.

The nice thing is that the light rail travels on REAL train tracks (which both Simon and Oliver totally thought was cool) - then (EVEN COOLER) it starts to go on tracks in the middle of the street with cars going down both sides.



The train scores another thumbs up from our family.

Flashback: Scout Camp

This summer Gabriel attended Buffalo Trails Scout Reservation near Ft. Stockton, Texas.

He attended the Mountain Man program. Basically that is where the scouts hike 3 miles into the "mountains" (hills) and camp fairly primitive. They spend their time learning skills of a mountain man from the 1800's. (Think Davy Crockett)

Hmmm. All my text disappeared from the above collage. So here is a recap:

Day 1 - scouts meet in Seguin to pack up and head out.

Travel to a state park where they camp on the road to avoid the mud (quick overnight stop).

Day 2 - pack up and get cleaned up to attend church at the nearby branch.

At Camp:

This collage shows the Mountain Man site. They had a gourmet kitchen, high tech tents, first class restroom facilities and even their own leech infested water hole for daily bathing and swimming.

Beautiful area to camp in.

Gabriel's story: The first day at the waterhole (Noch): I spent 30 min. pulling leeches out of my feet, we were only there for 45 minutes. Day two: I slipped and got a large cut on my foot, more leeches. Day three: the cut got infected and oozed green puss, made it kind of hard to walk, more leeches. Day four: cut quit oozing green puss, got attached by huge ants, more leeches. Day Five: had to clean out the latrine, lots of fun, three mile walk back to base camp, very sore foot. All in all, lots of fun.-Gabriel.

Some of Gabriel's activities:

Black powder shooting

Knife and Tomahawk throwing

Rope weaving - out of the Agave plant...which most boys ended up getting an allergic rash from - not to mention the spines were painful.

Tanning hides

Flint and stone fire skills

Daily hikes - totalling about 12 miles

Group after hiking to Indian paintings.

Troop 300 at Buffalo Trail Scout Ranch (Gabriel is middle row, 2nd from right)

Hanging out at base camp.

Gabriel came home completely exhausted - he went to sleep Saturday night, went to church Sunday, and went back to sleep until Monday. He had a great time and can't wait until next summer!

P.S. After returning from camp Gabriel declared that he was done traveling for awhile. He had

just gone on our long, 6 week summer trip - traveling from Texas, all the way up to Montana, back through Arizona and home again. We returned from the trip on a Friday night. Gabriel had to unpack, re-pack for camp, sleep and leave 8 a.m. the next morning to head out for the week-long scout camp. The silly thing was that camp was 10 hours away in Fort Stockton, Texas. His group drove there on Saturday. The day before our family had been driving through Ft. Stockton on the way home from our vacation. Poor kid. A 20 hour round trip in two days...just to end up back where you started.

Happy Birthday Dear Gabriel...

Gabriel turned 14 on Halloween. 14!!! Someone seriously has to tell that kid to quit growing!

This week we had a birthday party with a few friends at a local bowling alley. Gabriel invited 3 boys and 2 girls. (I suggested that if he was going to invite any girls he needed to invite 2 that were friends so they could hang out.) Unfortunately only one of theboys was able to come. I'll tell you what...the dynamics change dramatically when girls are invited. There is more silliness...from both the boys and the girls. Yikes. The sad thing is that I totally remember being the hyper girl...vying for attention - many of my friends and family probably remember that too. :)


Gabriel shows his camping cake. There are gummy people hiking, fishing and sitting around the campfire. No, it's not that the picture doesn't do the cake justice. It was just that I made it - and you all know how that goes. Not much artistic material to work with there. Thankfully the kids appreciate my effort and always seem to look forward to whatever creations I come up with.



Hanging out at the bowling alley. Gabriel and his friend, Travis, huddled over a game when it wasn't their turn. The girls often took off to the air hockey table. We ended up being the ONLY people in the bowling alley for about an hour. It was very quiet - or maybe we just seemed really loud since our voices echoed in the empty place.


...Happy Birthday to you!!!!!