What Calder's do on holiday breaks...

Take modeling pictures by a hippie bus.  

Go hard core surfing

Eat yummy canolies with Ryan at midnight. 

Sing Happy Birthday to my mom with Spencer blowing out the candles 

Make lots of treats for my moms 41st birthday!

Make my mom breakfast for her 41st birthday 

After Christmas trip to Kneaders 

Went to the Calder family party on Katelyn's birthday

Made Katelyn a cake for her birthday 

Ate "pink grasshopper" shakes with Ryan 

Laughed at Ryan when he dressed up for a midnight trip on Saturday for food 

Drank hot chocolate and played pac man with Kate 

Saw this great thing 2 days after Christmas 

Took this beauty 

Made my mom this birthday cake (soooooo yummy. Orange creamcicle cake :))

Ate here on the 29th. Good stuff. 

Christmas 2012!

This year we decided to do homemade gifts. Christmas never really is a huge thing in my family. Well- at least it hasn't been for the past few years. That probably has something to do with us getting old and such... we kind of get things that we want in the year so we never need anything when it comes to Christmas. Like we couldn't even think of anything to ask for. Well- ok I could. I wanted luggage and a camera for my mission. But I just asked that if I were to get anything that I would be able to use on my  mission. That happened :)
We also got to do some sub for santa things for my moms work. We went to walmart and picked out cute things for little girls and boys ;) we really loved that part!
But anyways... I made my sisters these mini Book of Mormon cases... I guess you could call them. I figured out a pattern for a box that a mini BOM would fit just right in. Then I picked out cute paper for each of them, cut them out, printed part of a scripture on the front (Mosiah 18:9), laminated them, put ribbon on them so the Book wouldn't fall out, and made book marks with a quote by President Eyring on them. Then I made a list of 14 of my favorite scriptures and wrote it on each of the back and wrote my testimony to them in the front. It really made my Christmas season more meaningful and fun :) I got 2 super cute homemade scarfs from Katelyn, a beautiful picture of the Salt Lake temple that Ash took and had a quote put on it, super warm homemade pajama bottoms from Karly, and tons of cute homemade earrings that will be perfect for my mission from my mom :) our stockings had tons of fun treats and also some new undershirts, tights, leggings, and jewelry for all of us.
Over all it was very simple and memorable :)

Our cousins at the annual Bezzant Christmas party in their ugly sweaters :)

Footie pajamas  

What time we woke up on  Christmas morning :) 

Uh.... 

The nativity play

Ash shoveling my grandmas driveway

Call from Austin!

I was sitting on my couch on Christmas being a bum watching movies or something, and I didn't have my phone. It had fallen in the little crack of the couch. My grandma had called Ashley so I figured that I should probably check my phone. I looked and I had a missed call from my grandma (of course) and 4 missed called from Alabama... I was like what the... then I listen to my voice mail from them and the second Austin started talking I almost started crying. I know. I am seriously dramatic. But I was just so upset that I had missed his call! The voice mail said that he needed his dads number. I called him back, and it was just the best ever. It made me so happy! I don't even know why! Ok- I do. He's my best friend and I have REALLY been missing him lately and again I'm going to be totally dramatic, but I think in a way his phone call could have been answer to my prayers. It calmed me and literally just made my Christmas complete. 

So here is why he got to call me-

He was going to Skype his mom at like 4:00, but she hadn't been answering her phone. So the only other number that he had memorized was The Thornleys, because they seriously have the easiest phone number ever. He called them, got my number and then asked me for his dads number. But we got to chat for a few minutes and he told me how awesome he thought that it was that I was going to Tampa and stuff like that. I tried to sound cool and collected, but ya. Then we talked about some other things that I can't even remember because I was in so much shock. It was for sure one of those times that you want to be able to go back and listen to a phone conversation that you had. Hahaha oh man. I sound like a totally pathetic person right now. But guys, you don't get it. It. Was. The. BEST. Thee best. I cannot even explain it! My I got to talk to my best friend in the world on Christmas! :)  

Merry Christmas 2012!

Here is my family's Christmas letter :) we thought that we'd put it online to save money... no... really it's just because we are too lazy and didn't get it done in time.

Well we figured that since we are kind of known for being late that we wouldn’t break that streak!

This year has been full of surprises and fun for us!

In April we finally fulfilled our dream and went on a Caribbean cruise! We loved every second of it, even though it was very last minute. We flew to Florida and headed for the Bahamas on Easter morning. We were able to go to the Bahamas, Jamaica, The Cayman islands, and Cozumel Mexico. We gained a lot of weight, spent a lot of money, parasailed, went snorkeling, hiked a waterfall in Jamaica, went clear bottom canoeing in the ocean, laid on the beach, took a wind tour through the everglades, held alligators, and even swam with dolphins! Let’s just say, we had a LOT of fun! In June we went to Moab and did a lot of hiking and swimming! We then took a sudden and quick trip to Arizona for our Great Aunt and Uncle Floyd and Karin’s funeral.  We had a girl’s weekend at a million dollar cabin in Bear Lake with Duane’s side of the family. We laughed, cried, ate, got sunburned, and had some much-needed girl talk. In July we had our annual Flaming Gorge trip and had a blast as always. We also fulfilled another dream by going horse back riding for Ashley’s 18^th birthday in September.

Nicole (19)- Started by finishing her fun year as Miss. Saratoga Springs in March. Then fought her way through her third semester at BYU. She working for WDS and is currently serving as a Primary teacher for the 5 and 6 year olds. She also submitted her mission papers 3 weeks after the announcement of the age change! She was called to Tampa Florida on November 14^th and is entering the MTC April 3^rd! Her favorite event this year was taking her endowments out with her family in the Mount Timp temple. 

Ashley (18)- Will be graduating this year from Westlake high. She was planning on attending Utah State or SLCC, but has now decided to put that on hold and serve a mission as soon as she can. Her life has basically been basketball for the past several months, as she is the captain of the varsity team, but she, as well as all of us are loving every second of it. She has averaged about 12 points a game and is thinking about playing college ball. She is currently the Laurel’s second counselor and the Humanitarian Specialist.

Karly (16)- Got her license in June, and is now dating. She is busy with school and enjoys physics, astronomy, and pre-calculus. She loves to spend every second with her friends; her family might be a little too crazy for her ;). She got to see Mumford and Sons (her all time favorite band) in concert and will not stop talking about it even to this day. She is in FCCLA and is pleased by it… most of the time. As you know she is the only musically talented person in our family and can play piano and sing like an angel. She was the Mia Maid president but in June moved on to be with Ashley in Laurels.

Katelyn (14)- In about one week Katelyn will be driving! Adding to that she started 9^th grade and out here that means High School! She is playing basketball for Westlake on the freshman team. She plays a point guard on the team and starts every game. She loves her team and coaches. She is learning a ton and getting so much better! She is always with her 100+ friends, keeping us on our toes, and making us laugh. She was the Beehive president, but has moved on to Mia Maids.

Kristin (we won’t go there)- Is still working with UPS, doing hair, and a full time mom. She spends most of her days running things back and fourth to Westlake for the girls, grocery shopping to feed the neighbors, and going to basketball games. She is still dating and having a blast going to singles activities, but mostly loves just being home with all of us.

Dad- In June it was 4 years since he has passed away. We are sure that he is up in heaven having fun with his dad and uncles, but also teaching and preaching the people in the same way he did down here. We miss him more every single day but we have a firm testimony that this is our plan and we try and make the best of it J 

Sandee, Mandee, O.J.- I know. Big surprise that our dogs and rabbit are still alive. We are pretty sure their time is coming… especially after Nicole left Sandee on the roof in the 90 degree weather for 4 hours… 

Saturday MOTAB Christmas Concert

We got tickets to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Concert on Saturday! We loved it last year and were excited to go again.

Saturday morning was spent playing Phase 10... all the way through. We always finish that game. No matter what. Then we headed to pick up Danny and go to Salt Lake.

We wanted to go somewhere nice for dinner, but everywhere was packed and the wait was too long for us to make it to the concert on time. We ended up eating at Panda Express and this other Chinese place at the Gateway. Not really what we wanted at all, but it was fine.

Then we headed to the concert!

To be honest we didn't really like the music as much this year, but it was still really beautiful and fun! The big surprise was the story at the end of the concert. I can't even try to explain the story because I know I will just butcher it. It touched me so much and I just wanted to cry. They even had the real man from the story that happened a long time ago! He was like 90 years old and still looked awesome! But ya. It almost made me cry. But you know how I can hold in my crying... unlike my laughter. They even dropped parachutes with candy from the celling. It was cool, but like I said also very touching and spiritual. I even ended up sending the story to Elder Miller and some pictures :)

On our way

We got pretty good seats 

After words :) 

Wicked!

We got tickets to see Wicked for Christmas last year. But, it wasn't until July! So, it was a LOOONGGG wait! Yesterday was the day! We got to see it!
We know a lot of the songs, but we didn't actually know the story line. Boy were we surprised! It was beyond amazing! Besides that, it was hilarious! I wouldn't hesitate for even a second to go again right now to see it. It was completely worth the wait! :) We went with the Gocken's because Cindy was the one that found the tickets way back when and told my mom about them. Let's just say, it was the perfect present for us!
We went to dinner and did some shopping before. It was so much fun :)

Danny's present...

Danny is my cousin, who really was meant to be my brother. He's awesome and we have the funnest times together. In like September we were shopping at Kohls's so he just tagged along. Of course shopping for clothes in boring for a guy, but he puts up with it ;) So we were looking on the clearance rack and he found this purple tank top that said vacations on it. He freaked out and said I want this so bad! He carried it around forever. My mom told me she wanted to get it for him for Christmas but it be a surprise (Ya, these are the kinds of things my mom thinks of) so we went out to the car while she bought the clothes and stuff. He didn't suspect a thing. 

We had almost forgotten about it until Christmas Eve my mom freaks out and says remember that shirt we got for Danny?! We searched and finally found it. 

He opened it on the day after Christmas. We could hardly wait and were so excited to see him laugh his face off... 

Haha... ya... that didn't happen. He had completely forgotten about it and we had to explain. Then he remembered and we laughed. He, of course, put it on. It was a size small, but oh well ;) 

CHRISTmas :

Christmas this year was a little different from the rest. Really only  because I don’t technically “live” at home, even though I come here every weekend. So we had our normal family Christmas party for my moms side of the family and it was great as usual good food (especially the new chocolate fountain that I hope is at every single one of our parties), family, and fun (as all our parties are).

We usually do a dinner with everyone, then the older kids (us) get to go and fill the socks that everyone brings. The whole sock thing was a tradition I think my great grandmas started with my mom and her siblings and they loved it so we continue it and do it every year. So we filled the socks while the kids got ready to the nativity which is what we do every year as well. I remember being in the nativity, oh man good times. We always wanted to be the shepherds. When we were little we wanted to be the angels. The cutest thing about that is, all the parents are recording and just loving it while me and my cousins and sisters can’t help but giggle and laugh at the little kids just wandering around the stage like they are on a new plant. It’s great.

So then after that we have Santa come (my uncle James) and give all the kids their socks and they can sit on their laps. The funny thing that happened this year was we had a microphone that was really the microphone that went to the primary room. So it was like a foot long and Ashley looked like a fool trying to use it. And yes, we really do need a microphone for just our family. We are very large, and very loud. I guess that’s what you get for having 9 siblings. It’s just a party every day!

Another funny thing, my aunt Diane brought coal for my mom. So, we called her up with the weird microphone she sat on Santa’s lap and he gave her a huge rock of coal. That’s just my aunt Diane for you. She’s hilarious and always does the funniest things to everyone. In July we voted her the funniest of all our Aunts ;)

Then, it was Diane’s turn to sit on Santa’s lap. My mom had this huge bag of red hot’s that we have literally had for 5 years. My mom brings it to the gingerbread making party we have around Christmas at Diane’s every year. It’s hilarious because we all remember it and don’t even use them.

So, Diane sat on her lap and guess what she got? Yep. The bag of red hot’s. She laughed so hard.

This year was a musical Christmas theme. After we do the whole Santa things we do something that goes with our theme. So people performed piano songs and stuff. Then Karl sang her song, with the weird microphone. After she was done singing, my grandmas told my mom “Her middle name is Ruth.” My mom laughed and then announced that to everyone. My grandmas is always so supportive and kind. I love her so much!

That was that. We went shopping a little after then went home to get ready for Christmas eve. We cleaned up, ate dinner, and went a little crazy. Literally, we were bouncing off the walls. It was a blast. We always get to open one present on Christmas eve, it’s always PJ’s. Not this year!

A little bit ago I told my mom that we had a lot of pictures of Christ in our house so this year (we get a different picture for our house every year from the money that my grandmas gives our family for Christmas) so I really think it would be cool to have a picture of a strong women in the church like Emma Smith or someone like that. So we all open our presents expecting pajamas. But nope, we each got a beautiful picture of one of the ten virgins. I think it’s beautiful. Then we read the story of the ten virgins and talked about it. My mom told us that every time we looked at the picture we should think that we can be her and return to our heavenly father making sure that our lamps are lit at all times. J It was very spiritual and a new twist to our Christmas eve. I can’t wait to get home and hang it up J

The rest of Christmas was fun. I like it being on Sunday because then it really is centered on Christ. We woke up early to go to our cousins church and watch her sing, her church was at 9:00 so we didn’t open our presents before. We came home and opened them and then ate breakfast, played a few games and went to church.

What I got for Christmas:

1.      New lotion and perfume.

2.     New shirts

3.     New shoes

4.     A new super cute coat

5.     A Cosmo pillow pet

6.     A new BYU jacket

7.     New pair of jeans

8.     The picture

9.      A spongebob connect 4 game

10.   Lot of stuff in my stocking

11.   Your Happily Ever After book (which I’ve wanted forever, it’s my favorite talk ;)

12.  A weight watchers scale (I think my mom is trying to tell me something ;)

13.    Then a bunch of stocking stuff that was stuff I actually needed like bobby pins, pencils, gum, and chap stick.

Overall, it was simple and amazing J I loved every second of it!