A fun Christmas!

We had a great Christmas, starting out with our Christmas tree falling over 5 days before Christmas! Kaylee was traumitized and cried the whole time we took down the ornaments and lights, but thanks to my mom and dad, who had an extra one in their basement, Christmas was saved and we got it up the next day. :) Here are some tired kids Christmas Eve with their new pajamas and the tree that saved Christmas!

The most fun was my oldest brother Ben and his family (who live in Colorado) surprising us Christmas Eve at my mom's house and staying the whole week! Their kids are our kids' ages so they had a TON of fun together. Here is Matthew and Daniel with Brian, Kaylee with Alison, and Ashley with Marcus and Kathryn.










Christmas morning I got up before the kids did and couldn't get back to sleep becaouse I was too excited, so I got the cinnamon rolls out to rise and layed there until the kids woke up! (I also did this last year, so I hope it doesn't happen consistently!) Vince and I had so much fun watching Matthew, Daniel and Kaylee opening the presents and Ashley raiding the candy while the siblings were occupied! After that it was over to Grandma's again for more presents and cousin time.











The first present at home! Then Ashley's favorite present--a phone. Finally, Kaylee, Alison and Grandpa Christmas morning at Melissa's parents house.

Since then we have been enjoying the freedom to do whatever we want, whenever we feel like it! I tried some of the after-Christmas sales, and wasn't too impressed, but got a few things anyway. Vince has been off of work since the 24th and doesn't go back until January 2nd (Happy Birthday to me, huh?--but the kids go back that day too, so Happy Birthday to me!)


I hope everyone had a good holiday and will have a Happy New Year!

Hope you have a jolly-PICKIN good Christmas!

This is what I would have put on our Christmas cards, but Vince and I decided that we would try to be a little civilized! Especially since most of the people we send cards to haven't seen us in a while. So, I decided I could post it on our blog and those who frequent it can have a good laugh!

She's a Tuber!

That's what Vince said after Ashley was done with getting her ear tubes. Here is the picture they take right before they get them in. She joins a good group of "tubers", namely Kaylee and Daniel!

Thanksgiving....finally

My team won!

Thanksgiving was at our house, and we had 15 people and tons of fun! We played football in the morning, then ate, then vegged and played games/puzzles/movies! I thought it was a great success and I think we all had plenty to eat! Well, I have been running around with so many things to do and as you can see in some of these pictures, sick babies. I have finally been able to get the pictures onto the blog--thanks to Kirk's amazing picture-taking abilities. It's not fancy, but at least its posted!

Happy Birthday Ashley!

Ashley turns 1 today! Her favorite things to do are: play with her siblings, eat anything she can get her hands on and get in the dishwasher while mommy is loading/unloading it! I will have birthday pictures soon.

Per Request....

Here is Melissa's costume--"Mom with bad hair day, thus the pony-tail". Vince was lucky enough to be omitted from any picture taking. I have to find out his secret! Let me reassure you, that Ashley has not had one too many--I think! (Those Hilton dads are famous for slipping things to the babies when the moms aren't looking)

P.S. I forgot to say that Vince went as "guy playing a guitar" to my mom's party, but at the Trunk-or-treat, he went as "guy who plays a guitar, but doesn't have it with him".

This is Halloween, H-H-H-Halloween....

I have finally found a few minutes for myself and decided to post a few pictures of the kids in costume. Some are at my mom's Halloween party and some are Halloween night. Matthew is holding Ashley and Daniel is holding Marcus, Myla's baby.

Matthew is an ewok and he got so frustrated with everyone calling him a bear, he took off his head-covering and didn't wear it the rest of the night! (I had to cut out the face part because he couldn't see and there are no-mask rules at just about every place here!--Sorry Heidi) Daniel was "The Thing" from Fantastic Four, and Kaylee is, of course, Cinderella. Ashley was Baby Claus--so cute, I know!

We had Kaylee's friend, whose name also happens to be Kaylee, come Trick-or-treating with us and it was tons of fun!

Congrats to Drew Hilton!

Drew is Vince's brother, he lives in Virginia and just found out that he passed the Bar Exam. I thought it should be shouted to all corners of the Earth by any means possible since everyone knows you don't pass the Bar Exam through laziness! And a big shout out to Corinne, his wife and my sister-in-law, who helped him get there!

If You Give a Mom a Blog...

If you give a mom a blog, she will want to do some posting on it, but if she doesn't have much to post about she will have to look for something to post about. Once she thinks she has found something to post about, she will want that something to be funny or interesting so she will have to take a picture to go with it! If she wants a picture to go with it, she will have to find her camera, once she finds the camera she will want batteries to make it work. After getting the batteries she will have to take a picture, if she takes a picture of something funny, she is going to want some time to put the picture online to go with her funny post. By the time she has taken the picture, cleaned the house for the 12th time, and made sure her kids are not killing each other, she will have time to get on the computer and when she gets on the computer she will want to do some posting.....

Ashley walks!

Okay, more like toddles--but it is very cute anyway. She will take 4-5 steps on her own on a regular basis, but occasionally she whips out the 7-8 steps in a row! She is learning all sorts of new tricks with her tongue and lips and loves putting both hands in the air when we say "tada!" I can't believe she will be 1 in six weeks!

Happy Birthdays!!

Happy Birthday to Matthew and Vince! I have been so busy that they are both belated, but I still wanted to tell everyone how happy I am to have both of these boys in my life. Not to mention its fun to have a reason for a party! Vince turned 30 on the 13th and Matthew turned 7 on the 18th. They both had lots of fun. Vince decided to buy a real leather motorcycle jacket with his birthday money--instead of the bomber jacket I convinced him to get a couple months ago because it was cheaper. Matthew is still undecided about what he will be doing with his birthday money, but I am sure it has something to do with the toy isle and some gumballs with his change!

Here is Matthew's Spongebob cake. I copped out and did it the easy way by purchasing the plastic toys to put on top instead of doing the headshot that I was going to do. Plus, I tried to make it look like Spongebob and Patrick were splashing out of the water, but instead it just ended up looking like they were sitting on a blue octopus! Oh well, Matthew, his friends, the neighbors and Daniel all thought it was cool so I guess that is all that matters!

Matthew goes fishing

On Labor Day, my family got together in Orem for a picnic at the park, then swimming at my aunt's pool. Unfortunately, Matthew came down with a stomach flu a few days prior which meant that he couldn't go. So, Vince decided that he and Matthew should go fishing at the local trout farm. We figured it was outside and if he needed to, he could run to the trees! Luckily he had lots of fun and didn't need the trees! He caught four fish.

Soccer boys

Here are Matthew and Daniel with their soccer uniforms--of course Matthew's socks and shoes were ripped off the instant we hit the door, but you get the idea.

Ode to Oatmeal

By Vince Hilton

Mush mush its good for your tush

The more you eat, the less you push

The less you push, the better you feel

So eat some mush for every meal!

Vince had just finished his instant oatmeal at work and thought I should see what a great poet he was and of course, being the proud wife, I thought I better share it with everyone!

What kind of guitar???

Vince started taking guitar lessons a few weeks ago and therefore has been taking out his (actually Dave's, but we are keeping it for him until he gets back from his mission) guitar more to practice. One day, Daniel decided to have a "lesson" so Vince was telling him different things about the guitar, and at the end here is how the conversation went:

Vince: "Dano, do you know what kind of guitar this is?"

Dano: "No"

Vince: " It's an acoustic guitar"

Dano: "Wow.....Mommy! Daddy has a 'nacooshnic' guitar!"

Ironically, we are actually going in on Thurs. to check his left ear tube and I think I will check his hearing while we are there! hee hee

Comments...

I have been hearing people say that they try to post a comment, but it won't let them. So I figured out what was wrong, changed my settings and anyone should be able to comment if they would like to! All you need to do is click on the blue comment link and it will take you to a place that you can write whatever you want.

Thanks for reading!

First Day of Kindergarten

Daniel had a wonderful time. He let me drive him to school, only after much reassurance that he would get to ride the bus home! We got him to the classroom, and he was a little shy at first, but after his teacher started talking to him he was just fine. Here he is with some of his new school clothes and his new backpack! It's not the greatest quality, but its what we have.

WELCOME HOME KIRK!

Vince's brother, Kirk, got home from his mission yesterday. He served in the California, Roseville (?) mission. We are greatful to have him safely home and Vince said he sounds great!

We can't wait to see you next week!

First day of 2nd Grade!

It is the first day of school for Matthew, and our camera decided to not work! So, I will be posting a "pretend" first day picture soon. Whether we have to get a new camera or I figure out what is wrong with our current one! Matthew is way excited because he is in a portable classroom this year. The school is in the middle of some additions and will be finished mid-October, I think. He has some friends from church and some from last year that will be in his class, so he couldn't contain himself this morning from running to the bus stop!

Daniel starts next week, so we had some tears this morning when he learned he couldn't get on the bus with Matthew, but all will be well next Wednesday! And hopefully by then my camera will work!

Cute Ashley

Ashley had her 9 month pictures taken on Monday and I just got them on email. Here are some of the poses they had us do. I think all of them are adorable, but I am a little bias! Of course, they make you choose which ones you want with your package and so I did, but here are some that are my favorites.

Oregon!

Yes, We have finally gotten home from our final vacation and I can't wait for school to start so I can have a schedule again! Vince said we are not allowed to take anymore vacations or trips for four months!

Oregon was a lot of fun, so great to see all the cousins again and have more to talk about since we are all a bit older and have some things in common. It was beautiful weather the whole time, we got to play at some parks, go swimming at the hotel pool, do some work for my grandparents in their yard and have tons of fun! I will try to get some pictures soon.

Michigan!

Okay, so its not the best picture of any of us, but its the only one that we are all in! This is a picture of my friends from high school/elementary and their spouses. In fact Candi (black and white top, pregnant--middle) and I have been friends since 3rd grade! From left to right in Front: Lori, Casey and Candi, Melissa, Jenelle and Chester behind with Nora; Back: Atila with Kevin and Lisa, Crystal and Josh.

I had a lot of fun checking out my ol' stompin' grounds. I dragged Naomi along with me and I don't think she had as much fun as I did, but we were able to get to Michigan's Adventure (a small, but fun amusement/water park--2 parks for the price of 1!) I made it to my 10-year class reunion, saw lots of friends and had some good food. I think the most fun was going back to our old branch on Sunday and seeing all the old friends and families we don't keep in touch with. Plus there is something about getting reassured that you did the right thing by moving when you did! hee hee.

I would like everyone to note I did not have any children with me. Why you may ask? Well, because I have the best husband EVER and he took care of all the kids while I got to go play!! I can't wait for the next time!

Colorado!

We had tons of fun in Colorado! The boys enjoyed going to the Rockies game with Uncle Ben and Brian, while the girls had a girl's night with shopping, ice cream and a "make-up party"!











We all got to go to the Littleton Historic farm, see some animals, watch a blacksmith hammer out a door hook, had a fun little picnic and play with the interactive kid stuff inside.

Here is Daniel, Kaylee and Alison talking to the piggie inside the gate!











While at the house, the cousins had a blast together! The boys' favorite part at home was playing in the basement and playing baseball in the backyard with Brian. Kaylee's favorite part was playing princesses with Alison and dancing all over the kitchen with their tap and ballet shoes! It was soo cute!

We also decided that once Ashley and Kathryn get old enough they will have just as much fun with each other as the other cousins did! Overall, we had a great time and we look forward to seeing them again in three weeks in Oregon!

The Dentist's party

Our dentist had a customer appreciation party on Thursday and the kids had a blast! There was a huge Shark slide, hot dogs, Rainbow the clown--making baloon animals, and sno-kones! The slide and the sno-kones were the kid's favorite part!