Lilly's 2nd Birthday

So Lilly is a true girl and picked the chocolate cake. Mary decorated it and we were all excited.
For a minute we weren't sure if Lilly was just going to watch the candles or blow them out.
Lilly made sure that everyone enjoyed their cake and explained to Great Grandma that it was good.

By two Lilly is a pro at opening her presents.
Andrew thought he should help. But she was doing alright on her own.
Lilly loves her great Grandma Muir and enjoyed showing her all the fun presents.

Nativity Story

Mary and Joseph show baby Jesus to a Shepherd.

Wise (girls) men traveled from afar to see the holy child.

Everyone was joyful and praised God who saw the infant.

Isn't it humbling to know that our Savior was once a child smaller than this.

Before Christmas

Every year around Christmas in the Muir Family we play a game called penny Christmas where a pile of inexpensive (a dollar or less) gifts is picked through opened traded stolen and after all is said and done passed around so everyone gets what they like best. There were twenty two of us present here and some how it all worked out.

This was the Christmas tree on Christmas eve.

Great Grandma Muir helped keep Lily busy as we got ready for dinner. Got to love those Grandmas

Trip to see Santa

So to start off our Christmas celebrating this year we took a trip to see Santa at one of the local stores. William had been asked to step in as a substitute for Santa because the big guy had so many stops and so many kids to visit with.When Andrew first saw Santa he looked really close and then said "That's not Santa that's my dad." There was no fooling this smart kid. He still thought it was fun to sit on the substitute Santa's lap and get kissed through whiskers. Look at that grin. Andrew's probably thinking that he has it made with Santa sharing one of his suits with his dad.Lily had just woke up and wasn't too excited to sit on some strangely dressed mans lap. It didn't matter that Daddy talked to her and tried to sooth her. She cried for mommy. Don't we all need one Santa experience like this? Daniel didn't much care about the Santa visit. He could see Mommy and hear Daddy so that's all that mattered. He didn't cry or fuss. He just sat there.


Santa's substitute wanted Mary to sit on his lap so he could tell her what he wanted for Christmas. Sort of a role reversal if you ask me.

Andrews Big Blue Birthday Breakfast Bash (say that five times fast)

This year when I asked Andrew what he wanted for his birthday he said he wanted a BLUE birthday and friends. I asked if he wanted presents and he said "no, just friends." His birthday was on a Saturday and so I thought no problem and then we ran into a problem. Will's work Christmas party was that evening. So along came our BIG BLUE BIRTHDAY BREAKFAST BASH idea.Andrew helped me to come of with a list of friends he had played with, gone to church with, and otherwise had fun with.
The menu consisted of the normal breakfast fare; eggs, bacon, sausage, oh yeah and blue berry muffins and blue juice.
Andrew showed his true Muir colors when the candles were lit. Doesn't he look memorized.Of course when it comes to cake being attached to candles the Euphoria ends fairly quickly.
Because as wonderful as fire is Blue berry coffee cake with colored frosting has it topped, and nothing can beat teasing one's little sister.

Halloween 2007

We moved into our new house the weekend before Halloween came around. Luckily Mary had made up some hats for the kids so they could have costumes. She had been putting away tools trying to get ready to move when she got tge idea to have the kids be a tool box.


Andrew got to pick which tool he wanted to be and when he picked the hammer Mary wasn't sure how she would do it. Luckily she had a bunch of cardboard boxes she could make a cut out from his black sweats made a perfect handle.









Lily had cute yellow sweat pants which made Mary think of a set of wrenches she had just seen. Of course it wasn't enough to just do a flat blade she had to make it a Phillips.
















Danny was easy since he had only one set of sweats. Mary wanted to make him a crescent wrench but she couldn't figure out how to make the gear so she settles for a simple wrench and so there we have Danny.















All in all they are a beautiful tool set, though one would say that these tools should be handled with care.

Kitty news

A little over a month ago Mary was out weeding around her rose bushes when a meowing caused her to look up. On the wall was this beautiful gray banded kitten staring down at her. The little cat ran around on the walls for a few minutes and then decided to come down and visit.

Shortly after the cat got over it's shyness the kids woke up and discovered this new furry friend outside with mom. The neighbors had some cat food so their young ones, Andrew and Lily fed it and watched it eat. We told Andrew and Lily that the cat probably would go home because it looked well cared for and had a collar on. After a week had past and we took a trip up to St. George and the cat was still hanging around Mary's mother (Nanna Taylor) took the cat to a lady who cleans up cats for the Humane Society. The cat was given a bath and shots. The Lady gave instruction for us to put up posters and try and find the owner. She also told us that the cat was already house trained.We call her "Stripes" and have a kitty kennel outside with a towel for her to sleep in. We've been working on teaching the kids how to hold her carefully so that they don't get scratched. Lily is obsessed with Stripes' tail so it's taking a much longer time to teach her. We put posters up and informed the local animal shelter. If no one calls before we move we can have her spayed and take her with us. The kids are already attached and help feed her in the morning.