lots to share

I haven't posted in awhile, so now you are lucky and you get to read THREE new posts! Enjoy! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

the polar express

My family decided to start the Holidays off right. We rode on the Polar Express! It was awesome. When it is not operating as the Polar Express, it operates as the Heber Creeper. Our family of 44, yes 44 (just siblings and grandkids!) reserved an entire train car for our polar adventure. Before we rode the train, we had dinner and a PJ exchange. Each member of our family gave to another member of the family. The kids loved opening and wearing their PJ's, and I think the adults enjoyed it just as much. I love getting PJ's, that is one of my favorite parts of Christmas!

It was a RULE, or at least a very strong suggestion that you wear your PJ's on the Polar Express, so here are a few of us showing off our cute PJ's. Thanks Jenn!

Mom, GayLynn, McKenzie, Me

And a few more of us...

Taylor (holding the E man), Krista, Mom, GayLynn, McKenzie, Me, and Lisa

Oh, and Will wanted in on the photo too...

All aboard! On the train, happy to be there.... or at least Scott and I were. I have no idea why Will was crying. I'm not sure what his deal is most of the time these days....
To make sure he wasn't crying we had to be sneaky with the pictures....
The entire train car. Can you believe this is what my family looks like? Two parents + 8 children + 8 spouses + 2 married grand-daughters + 2 grand-daughters hubbies + 22 other grandkids + 1 great grandson.
Santa even made an appearance on the train! It was awesome. Will was not afraid at all, in fact he was the happiest when Santa arrived. He even talked to him and told him what he wants for Christmas. It was pretty cute.
On the train they sang songs, had people dressed up as Elves serving us hot chocolate and cookies, a girl dressed up as a reindeer that was making jokes, and that read us the Polar Express. It was such a fun night. We will always remember this fun time as a family. If you are in Utah or even close, you should totally go ride on the Polar Express, the kids LOVED it, and my brothers and sisters had a ton of fun too!

babies...

Being the youngest of 8 kids, I not only have a lot of siblings, I also have A LOT of nieces and nephews. When I was just five years old, my oldest sister had a baby girl. I've grown up with my niece(s) almost my whole life. We played together, I babysat them all the time, and I always knew that when we grew up, we would probably be having babies together.... or at least have children close in age.

Well, that day has come folks. Just two weeks after Eli joined our family, my beautiful little niece McKenzie had a baby! Carver Miles. I always think McKenzie is so young, but she is not any younger than any of my sisters or friends who got married and had babies. It is just a little weird to have a sister who is a GRANDMA, and to call myself a GREAT AUNT.... or my parents GREAT GRANDPARENTS. Weird? yes, fun? yes, amazing for our family to be THREE generational? yes. Watching her be a mom, awesome.

I'm so happy for you McKenzie, and I am excited our boys will be great friends!!

Here's a sampling of what Eli looks next to my great nephew. Now, you have to understand that Eli is a big kid, and Carver is a small kid... but just look at the difference. I was worried Eli was going to steam roller Carver and break him. Maybe Eli looks so much bigger because of the hair? Or the cheeks? I don't know? Just two weeks apart.....

Me and McKenzie, Carver all small and snuggly, and Eli so big I can barely hang on to him....

I guess you have to keep in mind that my niece is super small, barely 5 foot, and tiny bones. Her hubby is also super skinny, but a little taller... so Carver has great genes and I'm sure he'll catch up to Eli in no time. In the mean time, we are restricting Eli's "eat on demand" feeding schedule. JUST KIDDING!

PS - When one of my other nephews heard about Carver's arrival, he said "hey! That's like Will's name, Will MortenCarverson!" Yes, Matt, it is William Carver Mortensen.... two boys with a great name!

before and after

One of the funnest things about Eli is his hair. I was in love with it the moment he was born. It is like poodle hair, super soft, super curly, and long. Everyone that holds him can't keep their fingers out of it. On Thanksgiving I gave him a bath (which makes his hair go crazy curly) and we were on our way, by Thanksgiving evening his hair was seriously a big poof ball from everybody rubbing their fingers through it.... I don't blame them, it is irresistable!

So here's a before bath picture (not on Thanksgiving) so you can see the hair is a bit less curly, a little more straight and fro-y (is that a word?)

And now, you have the pleasure of viewing his hair AFTER a bath, before everybody touches it. Now, do you see WHY everybody touches it? It is awesome. Althought we aren't quite sure what we are supposed to do with it, cut it? put stuff in it? We will learn I guess....

Check it out! Is it not so fun? I admit, I can't keep my fingers out of it either...

Okay, and the cheeks and face, no wonder I'm in love with this child!

We love you Eli, and we love your hair that is SO completely opposite from Will's! :)

some days.....

..... you just want to cry. Isn't this the most irresistible face you have ever seen? When I really do feel like crying or screaming or hitting something, I look at this picture and remember all the wonderful beautiful things in my life. I can't wait to get home and have like a 20x20 made of this picture, I love it.

Here's a few more of the pictures I had taken of Eli:

The most interesting thing about our little guy.... when he was born, you could barely tell he is Black. I knew Black babies are born fairly "fair" but I wasn't sure how long they stayed that way. When these pictures were taken I thought he was getting darker..... you should see one from TODAY, I'm pretty sure he has changed three shades in the past few days. He's cute as ever and we are completely smitten with the little fellow. He turned 1 MONTH this week, my how time flies.

JUST FOR DADDY

Look at your boys Scott, we are so lucky. We miss you and can't wait to be a family again soon!

I know.... you've probably seen enough. But our blog is for posterity's sake..... so here's another.

I just love this little man. He is growing like a weed and still sweet as ever. Look at that chubb potential on those arms... yes I love them and have to kiss them everyday. 

Hope everyone is doing great. We are STILL in UT, waiting and waiting for our paperwork. We are missing Scott and wishing we were home, but happy to be with family still. Will is doing great, besides stealing candy, hiding behind the bedroom door and eating it all in one swoop..... we've got some adjusting to do.

a little update

It has been a few days since I updated the blog world about our lives. On Sunday, the day after halloween, my parents came home from their mission. They have been in Uruguay for the past three years, and it was great to see them! We got to see all our family, have lunch together and introduce everybody to Eli. 

Today, Eli got his pictures taken, they are so cute, I can't wait to see them! Here's one that I took myself, just because I can't resist, he is such a cutie. His hair is so fun, when he gets a bath or it gets wet, it just curls right up, I love it. And of course, those big cheeks just don't get enough kissin'!! 

Will is still doing a great job as a big brother. He is so tender and just loves to talk to, hold, and hug Eli. They are going to be great friends and I don't think I could have a better little boy who is so good with Eli. 

So we are doing good, enjoying family while we have the chance. Ready to get home, see Scott, and sleep in our own bed :) but surviving and counting our blessings. We are so lucky, we have a beautiful healthy little baby and get to spend time with family while we make this big adjustment, so things are good!

happy halloween

I know that Halloween was a few days ago, but we are a little behind on everything these days! It takes me twice as long to get everything done lately. Plus, we are still in UT trying to be patient while we wait for clearance to leave the state. Grrrrr. It is seriously taking forever and they are having all sorts of issues with it. Good thing we have the most precious baby ever or it would all get really frustrating.

Here's Will "trick-or-treating" me at the front door. Isn't his shark hat awesome? I love it. He also had sweats that matched so he would look more sharkish, but they never made it out of the suitcase. So, the hat just had to do. Maybe next year I'll be a little more on top of things?
And here we are setting out to go get some candy. Oh, and don't you love Will's brown paper bag candy collecting sack? I just love it. This will be a Halloween/Fall we will never forget. Today I realized that I have been here ALL of Fall, arriving in September and now it is NOVEMBER. Okay, that sounds really long, and it has been..... but we are happy to be with family.
Here's how Eli trick or treated, all snug in the baby bjorn. He looked so cute and was just a little ball, we could barely see him. On lady saw us and said "Oh my gosh, how old is your baby?" I told her he was almost 2 weeks and she said "Oh wow, you look GREAT!" I said "Thanks!" it was pretty funny. Then I felt bad selfishly taking the compliment and had to tell her he was adopted. I've gotten that a few times already, if people can't see the baby. 
Got his candy.... on to the next house!
We had a great Halloween and I was glad that Will got to spend it with cousins. Will really enjoyed trick or treating and is already talking about next year!