i LOVE this time of year!

WOW!! I hope everyone had as much fun on their Christmas break as we did! I haven't had time to even look at the computer for the past week, we have been having to much FUN!! We were lucky enough to have all of my siblings here in AZ. this year to celebrate Christmas. Counting my siblings (and spouses) and their children, there is a total of 48 of us plus two that are on missions, and one on the way! Talk about a house full, lucky enough we were all spread out between 5 homes. There has been a grand activity every single day! Sometimes two in one day. Kaden had tons of FUN with all his cousins, and so did I. As it seems, I rarely saw or heard him because he was always to busy following someone else around instead of me! I especially love it when Mark gets to stay home and PLAY to! Seriously I LOVE this time of year when we get to spend time with our family and most importantly get to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. I love him, and it is a huge blessing to me to be able to be on the earth at this time, and in this place, with an amazing family!

From candy making, to caroling, quad riding, zip-line, bird hunting, shopping, hiking, paint ball, clay pigeon shooting, service projects, volley ball, and everything in between!! There are to many details, and I wasn't so good with picture taking (because I was busy playing), so I will just share a few pic's of some of the activities! I Love my FAMILY!! We have so much fun together. Thank you MOM and DAD for having so many kids, and then putting up with all of us!

Christmas Candy!

Christmas play

Family quad trip!

Yes, that is a sling shot.

Wow Mom, That's HOT!Kaden doing what he does best.
This was probably the highlight of the holiday for me. A home maid ZIP-LINE! Probably because this is one thing we don't do often. Mark is so stinkin creative, I love it!!

Skousen family dinner. We had to reserve the church to hold the crowd! This is not everyone, but you get the feel. We also had a few games of some serious volley ball. To bad I don't have any pic's. It was quite the sight!

Bird hunting. Great face Mark!

Gingerbread anyone?

On Monday, Tiffany and Jason invited us to their house for dinner. Jason made some killer lasagna, and we had all the yummy sides to go with it. Also, we finally had the opportunity to do a gingerbread house!! Because Christmas is just not the same without a half eaten gingerbread man and his house. Kaden had a great time playing with his cousins, and mostly enjoyed the fact that the table was covered with all kinds of sticky, yummy, sugary, stuff, that I could not keep his hands or mouth off of!

YUMMY
the finished product!

Thanks for the good time Tiff and Jason! We had fun!

Good Times!

The annual Brohem Christmas Party was held this weekend at Aaron and Michelle's house. It was really fun. Good food, good friends, games, lot's of kids, and lots of laughs. Mostly coming from the wheel chair game, (Good idea Aaron Mark really loved that game!) and the maxipad slippers for a gag gift! I wish I had a picture of that. Mark and I have been blessed with some awesome friends! Big THANK YOU to Michelle and Aaron for hosting. You guys Rock!!

New member of the family?

It's NOT what you are thinking. We are not pregnant yet! We have just decided to upgrade a member of the family. You see, when you have so much FUN with something, and memories GOOD and BAD are made with this something, you develope a relationship, and they become like part of the FAMILY. As much as we love the warrior, he had to go. We have put WAY to many hours on him, and he always needs to have his OWIES (sp?)fixed. Poor guy, we will miss him! So, we are trying something new! From 4 wheels to 2!! We still have the 450 quad so we can RIDE as a family, but Mark will be riding solo for a while (or the next few rides anyways) till he can get a hang of the NEW GUY! His name is YZ450F! Translation, dirt bike with quad engine. Mark promises he is very safe and will always wear protection. Right MARK!

By by Warrior. Kaden and I love this toy!

Hello new friend!

OuR TrEe!!

We waited till Sunday to decorate our tree, we had a good time! We did it while Kaden was sleeping so he wouldn't think he could touch anything, that's why he is not in any of the pics. One of the reasons I love Mark is because he is so handy, and creative, and he makes everything fun. That's why he prefers "stilts" to help decorate the tree!! For some reason I can't turn these pic's. So turn your head!

Here is the finished project. I waited till now so I could post the tree skirt that my awesome Mom and my awesome Cousin and friend Leila and I made. I wont go into details, but for some reason, probably because I am NOT an avid sewer, and because I have no confidence when it comes to sewing, and we did not have a pattern, this was really hard. Big THX for all the help!! And we moved the tree into the other room, after it was decorated. That was awesome!

HAPPY B-DAY !!

I am REALLY bad at remembering dates. Today though is a special day for 2 special people who mean so much to me.
FIRST: Happy Birthday to my DAD!! I love you so much! Thank you for all you have done for me. You are such a good example and mentor to me. There are so many things I admire about you and hope to be able to emulate, that the list could go on forever. ONE of the things that I admire is how incredible you can make other people feel. You always know how to make other people feel welcome and very comfortable, and you accept people for who they are. Thank you for that. I LOVE YOU!! This picture is from when we were camping for our fam. reunion a couple yrs ago.
SECOND: MARANDA!! My bestest friend. I luv U girl. When I think of all the memories we have together, I could laugh forever. I traveled so much with you guys. We spent a lot of time together. So, I just want to tell you thank you for being the best friend every one wishes they had, and I still do. I could go on forever about you to, but Kaden is waking up. You were everything in a friend that I needed, and that is a lot. Thank you for always being there. I Love You!!

Rain + Dirt field = Mud + Quads = FUN!!

While Mark was working Saturday, and the weather was amazing, I needed something to do. (I love rain) Kaden and I were just dying to get out and enjoy the rain, and it's hard for me to pass up begin outside when the weather is so nice and cool. I just don't like to do things alone. So, just as Matt and Candee and I and our children are getting ready to go "chase the rain", and take the dogs for a run, my mom and dad show up. OH yeah!! DAD + RAIN + MUD + QUAD =FUN!! Here are the pics, it was a good time!