Girl's Night

Friday, December 26, 08. Jennifer invited some girls over to her house to have a "Girls Night Out". Girls Night Out doesn't come around very frequently so I had to go, plus I always have fun with the girls. Jen said for us to bring our favorite drinks and to wear our pajamas she said we'd be play games and playing the Wii. Uummm yeah she wasn't kidding!! Most everyone was there when I arrived so but we decided not to wait and got busy playing the Wii. Jen thought it would be best to start us out on the Wii fit doing the Hula Hoop - ha what a joke! I am a complete fish out of water when it comes to make believe Hula Hooping (or whatever we're going to call it) anyways - everyone thought that I was so funny that they recorded my unique hooping on video, Thanks Gals! Jen was having a blast giving us all random cards from a truth or dare game, but she really didn't think that it was so fun when Raylene and I got control of the cards! HA! So we finished off by playing some Boxing on the Wii - it was my favorite game of the night even if everyone kept on kickin my butt. The night ended sometime around 130am when we all started feeling sleepy and Chris came home. I had so much with the girls - just as I always do, thanks for inviting me. I can't wait until next month for Linnaea's birthday! - Hanna

Christmas Day 2008

Christmas Day came on a Thursday this year. The kids began waking us up sometime around 630am or so, with Miss Alora waking up sometime around "2am" and I believe her because at 430am I awoke to her watching TV - she already had her stocking down and was just waiting until it was late enough to wake the rest of us up.

We have a Christmas morning rule at our house, no matter what time you get up you don't wake up anyone else until an appropriate time, and as tempting as it may be no gifts until the entire family parents and all are up and ready to open together. There is one thing that the kids can do until the parents get up - they can get their stocking down and open anything in it as well as eat anything in it.

So the day began - it began with a living room that seemed to be piled high enough with gifts to reach the top of Everest, okay maybe not that steep but there were tons and tons of gifts. Bradford got a giant Firetruck and Jake got a giant Nerf gun that were so big Santa didn't even wrap them. The older 3 kids got new bedding, Syd's was aqua blue satin, B's is a variety of colors and patterns in satin, and Jake's of course was Tony Hawk. Some of the fun things that the kids got were; scrapbooks and scrap booking items, Bradford got play food, shopping cart, and McDonald's play set for his pretend kitchen, Jake got an Ipod playing Lamp, a Football, and lots of art activities. Syd got things to decorate her room and clothes that she's been wanting. Alora got her wish - she got a Nintendo DS, actually all 3 older kids all got DS's and 7 games to share between them. Alora did get 2 collector Barbies that she loves one is Hannah Montana and one is Frenchie from Grease. All the kids got a Webkin and Grandma gave Bradford a digital camera and a real skateboard ramp for Jakob, she gave Syd clothing and pins, and for B she got her a Caboodles with make up, Grandma gave Matt a Steelers Shirt and I got a Authentic Farve Jet's Jersey (I'm lounging in it now). Matt got a new XM Radio for his truck he is going to get an external battery pack for it so he can use it at work and anywhere else, he also got a Massage Envy membership for 6 months. But guess what I got? I got a Lap Top and I'm blogging on it now! I just love it, Matt is so sweet to get it for me, I know it must cost a lot, I'm very grateful for it and I'm having fun using it. Shayla and Ava gave all the kids hats and clothes and they gave Uncle Matt and I framed pictures of them, the pictures are so beautiful and I plan on putting them in our living room and one in my office too. After we spent a good few hours opening our gifts we hang around playing with all of our new toys and slowing making Christmas dinner.

Grandma, Great Grandpa, Shayla and Ava ate Christmas Ham&Turkey dinner with us this year, the food was good but not as good as the company was. We all ate our fill. And Little Miss Ava just couldn't get enough desserts - she really is enjoying eating big people food. Christmas Day was just so wonderful I wouldn't change a thing about it. It is nice to have Syd home with us and we are happy that she gets to be with us until the 5th of January - it's just to bad that she has to go back. Thank you family, thank you Santa, thank you friends for a Magical Christmas. - The Osbornes

Christmas Eve @ Grandma Kitchen's

Every year on Christmas Eve we go to Grandma Kitchen's house in Bountiful. This is a tradition that Matt's entire extended family participates in for as long back as he can remember. Grandma Kitchen is our Children's Great Grandmother so I'm sure that you can just imagine how crowded her house gets. And I know that it goes without saying that even though the house is jammed packed it feels nice and cozy with all the love that is there. Each year Grandma makes her Famous Home Made Chicken Noodle Soup (even the noodles are made from scratch) and each family brings a pot luck item of our choice, the food is always 5 Star!

Grandma gives us all gifts , one for each child and also a family gift of Hot Cocoa and Toilet Paper. We always get the same family gift every year and we love it - keep it coming Grandma. The kids preform for us any talent that they would like. The talent show is an open floor for all to showcase their abilities and every year the entertainment gets better and better. This year Alora showed us her Cheer Leading dance, Breanna & Makayla sang songs, Cole played his electic guitar, Caitlyn sang, Heidi and Kelsey played piano, and I know that I am forgetting people but there are so many of us I can't hardly keep us straight. I know this that Tradition can't last forever - but for now I know that we are all looking forward to next Christmas Eve @ Grandma's house. - The Osborne Family

Family Christmas Party

Sunday, December 21, 2008. This year Matt and I had the wonderful opportunity to host the Cathy Kirkpatrick children/extended family/friends Christmas Party. The family has grown so much over the last few years that we no longer fit into Cathy's living room. Not only do Cathy's 4 children have their spouses (4 more) but they also give her 12 Grandchildren. That's 21 just of the immediates. And this year we added Kathy, Shayla, Ava and The Mendoza Family bringing our total this year to a Grand 30 people. The party got underway about 4 pm when all the guests arrived and started to visit. The kids were all so excited and so happy to be playing together while at a Christmas Party.

We ate a wonderful pot luck dinner provided by everyone :) and just as we were finishing up dinner - there was a knock at the door... who could it be? It was Santa - Santa Claus was here - he was at our family Christmas party! Santa came right in and began to visit with the kids - I don't know who was more excited to see the Jolly Elf the kids or the parents. Santa came with a gift for each child and even let both Grandma's sit on his lap. This was the first time that Santa came to our party it was so enjoyable and so memorable that I hope he can visit us each year going forward. After Santa was on his way to visit another family's party - Grandma Cathy gave out the gifts that she does for the kids each year. This year the girls all got super cute PJ's and the boys got sports clothing. When everyone had changed into their new clothes one adult from each family played a gift exchange game, it was so much fun to watch. And Matt got the gift of a nice warm throw for our family. The party was a great success and we had so much fun hosting it. Thank you to everyone who was able to come and enjoy this wonderful holiday season with us. We are so grateful to have you all in our lives and we wish you and yours the best this holiday and into the new year. - The Osborne Family

Dance Recital

Alora and Jakob had their very first Dance Recital this year, it also happened to be a Christmas Recital. The recital was held in the auditorium of our local high school on Thursday, December 18,08. This past Summer the kids started taking lessons @ our Rec. Center with WV Dance Force just for something fun to keep them active. Well when it became time for the Summer lessons to end and for the regular lessons to begin they were enjoying what they were doing so much that the committed to continue on. Alora continued with Cheer Leading and what a great choice for her it really seems to come to her so naturally. She is right on spot and her moves are sharp and precise, Go A L O R A Go! Jakob is having a blast with Tumbling - he started out in intermediate as opposed to others that also had no formal training who start out in beginning. Most of you know that Jakob was meant to be a gymnast from the time he was born, I however knew he was a gymnast from when he was in utero and would "hang from my ribs" he really must have done some gymnastics while in the womb after all his umbilical cord was around his neck 3 times. Any how, I know that the kids really appreciated the "Fan Club" that was able to come out and support them - thank you Grandma Kathy, Aunt Shayla, Baby Ava, Grandpa Rich, Grandma Alice, Aunt Jenny, Jordan, Breanna, Kodi, Mom, Dad and Bradford too. The kids are now on their "winter break" from lessons and will resume them in the new year - when they'll start their hard work towards the Spring Recital, we hope to see the "Fan Club" grow. Congratulations Alora and Jakob you did WONDERFULLY - We Love You - The Osbornes

Breakfast With Santa

On Saturday December 13, 2008 we ate breakfast with Santa Claus. Matt, the Kids and I met Grandma Kathy, Aunt Shayla and Baby Ava at the fitness center to eat breakfast with Santa and sit on his lap to tell him what we were hoping to get this year. Breakfast was served to us by a very friendly staff and as we ate we were visited by some very fun holiday characters. Mrs. Claus brought her Pup and Jack Frost was there with the Gingerbread Girl. That morning as we got ready to go to the breakfast it started snowing very hard and it just kept on snowing right through breakfast, it was great in helping to set the tone. The kids had a blast getting to meet the characters, sitting on Santa's lap and the food was even good too. I think that this could possibly become a tradition for our family. What a fun event to attend. - Hanna

Ava Meets Santa Claus

Ava, our 9 month old Super Darling Niece sat on Santa's lap for the first time this year. I'm sure that Ava will always get what her heart desires - just look at that SMILE. - Hanna

Christmas Lights R On!

Yesterday our family put up our outdoor Christmas decorations. My Dad and I put up the lights, we hung them from the roof of the house, we also put Santa on top of the chimney. I wasn't afraid to get up on the roof with my Dad but Jake on the other hand was very afraid and he cried and was totally freaked out! Mom handed the lights up to us and Jake helped her with getting the hanging hooks to us, he has a really good arm :) We managed to get the decorations up just in time we missed the snow of today. Enjoy these fun pictures. - Alora

Yellowstone

This summer our family took a vacation to Yellowstone National Park. Here are some pictures from our adventure. -Alora