morn

Two kids... Star wars and babies... good to go.

Sammo woke us up at 6 and tried oh so hard to fall back asleep but he just couldn't make his little eyes shut, he was so excited. Grandpa, Grandma, and Grams, were all going to be there at 8 so we decided to make him wait 'til at least Sophie woke up. We then decided we were too excited to wait and woke her up ourselves.

Sam's gifts: Storm trooper helmet and costume, action figures, tank, snake book, Book of Mormon with his name on it (from G and G) and lego set

Sophie was so delighted with seeing her stroller from Santa and her baby doll trying it out. She went right over to give it a kiss. She had fun with gifts and she seemed to think that Grandpa's lap was the perfect spot for gift opening because each time one was handed to her she toddled to "papa" to have him help her open it. The best is when she opened a baby doll potty, she looked at it and then at everyone around her, then turned around and backed up to sit on the potty. She also had to try out her baby bottles.

Sophie's gifts: Stroller, sunglasses, backpack, bottles, potty, 2 books

It will be fun to look back next year, to see how their interests have changed and what Santa brought them.

more rhyming, lucky you

I forgot about Laurie on her Birthday. I wanted to write her a birthday poem... as if you haven't been delighted enough with my rhymes. Hey I have a LOT of siblings! Bretts bday is on Sunday... I'm not sure if he even reads my blog, I might get out of that one.

Happy 32 Lar!

My Lovely sister Laurie is a phenomenon of sorts

She is fair haired and freckled but also tan beneath her shorts

Her waist is oh so tiny, and people think she's been enhanced

In her days of being single, she had all the boys entranced

She may be 6 years older, but that didn't stop our buddy bond

Everywhere she went, I went, Her big sister duties went beyond

She gave me advice on friends and she told me always to be kind

She said mean girls didn't get too far, so I left those friends behind.

She was a mild party animal, dancing was her favorite thing to do

she can still cut a rug and draw a crowd even as her pregnant belly grew

She claims to be the "boring" one, but the best parties she can throw

With waterslides and a backyard beach, I'd say thats anything but dull

Oh Larlee, Farlee, mucky muck, your Birthday came and went.

I so wish you were here not just to steal your clothes, but I have always liked your scent

That darn Christmas always upstages you from the attention you should get

Love you like a fat kid loves cake, your'e awsomeness is legit

First of the Christmas posts

Brookie Asked me to help her come up with a fun poem for our family for Christmas. We have such a big, Combined family, we didn't include everyone, seeing as we are on the younger end of the family, we included those we have some recent memories of at Christmas.

An Edde Christmas

T’was Some Night around Christmas,
when the Edde family gathered near
our celebrations are Always at different times each year.
Between Mom and Dad, we have 8 girls and 5 boys,
They have a hard time rounding us up, (try bribing with toys)
We started in Utah, but now speckle the globe
It’s a good thing that none of us is an agoraphobe (fear of big crowds)

Spence and Kymmie are local but don’t seem to know that.
With Spence always traveling, he’s not sure which time zone he’s at
All tardies are forgiven right when Kymmie glides in
With 5 children behind her and plates of yummy, edible sin.

Jamie is here with plans of games and card playing
Watch out, Ed gets carried away with his cuss word sayin.
There’s Luke and Brie, with new gadgets on display
and those 2 hungry boys, hide Kyms treats from Rohnin and Trae!

Laurie’s in Georgia, making some of Grandma’s cheese balls
Trying to squeeze in some “Edde” in her southern in-law’s
Her girls are beautiful. Not seeing them is the pits.
We all can tell Laurie is proud of her G.R.I.T.S
(girls raised in the south)

Jill Marie and her clan are too often missing in action
But she does all in her power to be next years coming attraction
She hates to miss out and hopes to put a web cam nearby
But if that plan is foiled, She will be on speakerphone turned up high

Brooke shows up in her heels to be well taller than Dad
Without a belly ring to reveal, what else can she do to make him mad?
Travis isn’t used to the madness as he watches our big, crazy fam
With Brooke always surrounded by kids, he wonders just how many she’s planned

There are well coiffed babes all around, and you have to admit.
Being related to Stacy is a great benefit.
Sophie’s giggling as usual and careful because Sam’s using the force
With Steve’s subtle influence, next year Obama you will endorse

Without Mackenzie the party doesn’t reach the same heights
Cause when she’s here, it’s like Hanukkah, with 8 crazy nights.
JT keeps her in threads that are oh so funky
Mississippi has no clue they are so lucky

And finally we have our baby brother Brett
We were taken by surprise when amber he met.
He married her, this girl from a fashion mag.
Sorry Brett, you’ll always be Spencer’s punching bag.

We come together now to sit around the tree
To say thank you mom and dad, Raising us was no small fee.

We are ready for some fun with white elephants in hand.
Agreeing so far, this Christmas is the most grand
Bring your smiles with you and some side dishes too
Nothing says I love you Like Holiday food.
Being in this family you can't help but feel blessed.
now how about you stay and help clean up this mess!
Then leave with a feeling of family and love
for we cherish this gift from god up above.

There really isn't a "usual"Edde family party but for the last several years, we have opted out of drawing names do to the shear size of our family. Whoever happens to be in town comes to the party and brings a 20 dollar gift for the gift exchange game. The game is always different but we do have some constants.

-My Dad always brings these LEAST sought after gift (a hot plate, or a lawn, light-up reindeer) This year he did pretty good with a coupon book of car washes.

-Someone always brings up Ed's first Christmas with us when he was rushing home from a shift at 7-11 and grabbed a chocolate orange, nobody wanted it and he ended up with it

-There is plenty of conspiring and strategy

between couples to ensure you get what you have

your eye on.

Here is Spencie, amazed at his good luck to have nabbed a New Moon calender (not shown, a DWTS workout DVD)

And above is Mom super pumped to have a brand spankin' new poker set. That got stolen from her though, she ended up with the car washes.

pretty, crazy haired, rachey bug in her pretty Christmas dress Grandma made. (soph has one too, Post coming soon)

Kymmie with the Turkey. Everything this girl cook is so yum

Brie and Lauren. No more did they get dolls and littlest pet shops. Brie got a netbook and Lar got a plethora of Twilight paraphernalia. This pic reminds me of how I was with my best cousins (Merredy, Morgan, Esther)

Me trying to console Little Lyss, In the cousin gift exchange, Her name got skipped. (my doing) Luckily, Jamie saved the day with an extra gift she just happened to have on hand.... Christmas miracle? I think so. And Rachel and her forever crazy hair and into everything-ness kills me! I love that girl

Edde Cousins and the Talent show. This year had some sweet moves by Sam and Chase, About 4, fully choreographed song and dance numbers by Breezy, A little drag, and with some intense coaxing, Lauren even sang a song. Sophie played as back-up dancer for just about everyone. The ham wasn't just for dinner.

The most amazing family update/look at our accomplishments!/we wish you a merry christmas a day late, post you will ever read... on this blog

I love how Christmas comes at the end of the year. It always seems like the most vivd memories are made around big events and my Christmas memories always seem to stand out to me. I have had fun remembering this time last year and what my kids were doing and what kinds of things they were into.

This year as a family, has had a lot of firsts for us. We moved into our first house (albeit as renters) but with the house, we have our fist dishwasher, yard and second bathroom. We went camping for the first time and of course with kids, they experience things for the first time nearly everyday

Sammers has hopped around here and there with his facinations. When he latches onto something, he does it ferociously. First hot wheels, then star wars and he has recently decided he loves legos. He seems to have only enough room in his obsesison tank for a few things at a time. When offered something that isn't one of his favorite things, he often says, "No thanks I'm not really into whatever it may be." Sam has also learned to write his alphabet, he can recite his phone number and address. He has made some new friends at pre-school. His best friend though continues to be Dad. He wears what dad wears, eats what he eats, and says what he says. He has tried hard to be a good big brother and has to be reminded occasionally to include his sister. He also has some new catch phrases like, "What the cool!?" and he as been calling just about anyone "dude".

Sophie has obviously grown like crazy this year. I remeber last year at Christmas, watching my niece, who is a year older, toddle around and say words and dance and get into things. It was so hard for me to wrap my head around that, that was going to be Soph next year. Well, it's true! She loves her baby doll and her Mimi (kitty) She has just had a HUGE increase in appitite recently. Not becasue she has increased her cardio workouts but because her mom decided she was doing away with her beloved bottles.... no more enormous amounts of whole milk.

Steven continues to be at home with the kids a lot, Because he is working at night. We have found this works great for us. He is loving his job and is doing well at it. He has found that his new responsibilities of designing the paper are just as exciting as the writing part. His love affair with BYU and the Yankees continued this season. (one season was slightly more exciting than the other) We were also starting to have a little more of a social life but Stevies work and hours make it a bit harder to hang out with good friends.

I am about to embark on my new life as I travel with the Lady Gaga tour, I will be one of the principle hairstylist. I will also be one of her back-up dancers.Look for me, I will be the one with a one legged cat suit with rotating watermelons around me and a ferret skin hat on.>>> Ok, so nothing really all that exciting to report about me. I'm still a part-time hairstylist and part-time stay at home mom. Ummmm I lost some weight this year (ahem about 12 pounds) but I am one happy girl. Really. It's such a wonderful feeling to be content with where you are at and happy in your surrounding and that's where I am at the moment. I have found it easier to not have cases of the "gimmies" and even though I want to buy myself a beautiful camera this year and I'm plotting just how to make it happen, I'm happy.

This year was a good one. And our Chritmas was just the cake topper on top of the icing. (christmas post to come.) I'm excited to plot my goals for the new year.

Sophster, Goosey loving the camera

Just a glimpse at our house. Sophie is showing off her words like a pro. I think the only reason she is cooperating is because I flipped the viewing screen over so she could look at herself while I recorded her. She has her all-time favorite accessory on... Brother's backpack (she is getting a more appropriately sized, girlified one for Christmas) Speaking of Brother, he joins the mix later and shows off some of his sweet dance moves that somewhat resemble Kung fu. Yes it's 5 minutes long and if you are not the mother or grandmother.... you may just want to skip it. But honestly... who can resist freshly bathed and pajamaed kids, hamming it up and for the camera. I say, it's worth the 5 minutes.

My Big Date

This Friday night was date night. I haven't had a date in so long because the hubby is always working at night now. Which is amazingly convenient for me to play the Field a bit. I have always meant to stay faithful to Steve but a girl needs to get dressed up once in a while and go out for a night on the town! You can imagine my conflicted heart when the opportunity arose to go with the most handsome blue eyed Blondie to the Theater in the city. (Steve never takes me to the theater)

We Drove together (well, I drove, he insisted on sitting in the back) We had an intellectually stimulating game of, "Would you rather?" My personal favorite he asked me was, "would you rather eat poop for dinner, or a trailer?" I must have pondered this question a little too long because he added the profound point that a trailer would most likely break my teeth whereas poop is soft and would not break my teeth. Clearly... the better choice.

As we arrived at the theater, hand in hand, we met up with some of his cousins that live downtown, and are frequenters of the arts. Even though My date found a spot sandwiched between his two cousins, rather than next to me, I knew where his loyalties were. (just to ensure they were with me, I promised him a snack during intermission. Everyone knows that the key to a mans heart is through his stomach.) I knew this would be a night to remember.

Because I suggested the play, I was a little nervous and hoped that my man would enjoy it. His face said it all. He was all smiles and was utterly amazed when he discovered that one of the characters, Tweedle Dee, used to be the Nanny of his cousin Malia. He let out a very breathy, "Wow!" He was particularly impressed by the acting chops of the bad guy Barnaby. After the show he was even more amazed that we got to meet all of the actors. We met Bo beep, Little boy Blue, Rumplestilskin, and at last, Barnaby. He gazed at Mr Barnaby as he shook his hand and told him, "You were my favorite Character!" I love a man that can express his true feelings. After the show, He exclaimed to me.... verbatim... "We should do this more often!" i don't know about you, but that sounds to that he totally wants to go out again... I really think he likes me! On the way home, He thanked me for the evening and gushed a little more about the play and the bad guy Barnaby. He said, "I really liked him, he was tricky, and he was very silly, He, like talked really loud and was very talented!" I love that he uses such sophisticated words like "talented" I really think I'm in love!

In all seriousness, we were invited to The Children's Theater in Salt Lake by my sister-in law Andrea. We saw "Babes in Toyland" It was such a fun and festive night. I love doing things out of the norm and was excited to discover this little gem. Sam love, LOVED it. I would most definitely recommend it. It was great for boys and girls.... and Moms and Dads. It was such a fun rare moment to get to go out with just my little man....Ooo I love that sweetheart.

year and a half

We have hit a momentous age in baby years...18 months! It is showing too. All of a sudden this little girl is an older sort of baby. She is starting to replace her finger points and desperate squeaks and grunts for actual, real-life words. Her interpretation of them anyway. One of my favorites is when she is telling me she did some business in her diaper (any business) she pats her bum and says "beeps" meaning, poops. She has a kitty that she loves and instead of saying kitty, she says "mimi" So, Kitty has a new name.

Just some of her words:

shoe, "oosh" purse, "boose".... ice, "eyeshh".... Sam, "mam".... story, "dohwee".... Elmo, "mehmo"

dress, "dess".... Grandpa, "papa".... and new ones everyday.

She still loves to bite her brother when she's upset. About once a week he has bite marks to prove it. This girl is all about the clothes and brings me and dad shoes and jackets and tutus to put on all day. although I think her favorite is when it's bath time and that diaper comes off, she takes off running through the house, free as a bird. This little thing is fast too. She loves to be chased and she hardly walks anywhere... she sprints

She loves her "boose" which I used as a scripture case. She walks around with it on her shoulder and usually has her arm shot straight up in the air, so it doesn't fall off. Her natural gravitation for clothes makes me laugh. But if you scramble the letters in Soph, you get shop.... are we in trouble? I think we are, but I'm up for the ride.

pretty great, had to share

My Sister-in-law Patricia started a cooking blog. She goes all out on meals and her most recent posting kind of cracked me up. A New moon themed dinner.... well 2 dinners, Jacob vs Edward. Check it out here

the last of florida, maybe the best

Cocoa beach was so great. It's about an hour from Steves brothers house so we only spent a day there but what a great day it was. So warm, not too hot. We just packed snacks, brought beach towels and played. The waves were high that day and the surfers took advantage of it. It was so fun to watch them and it gave little Sammers piece of mind because if there were sharks in the water, they would most definitely get the surfers first.

This was Sophies first time seeing the ocean. Sam was also about 18 months. She was a bit apprehensive but when she warmed up 10 fold. She just turned into a little crazy mermaid. She ran for the water and had many protest to me hanging onto her arms so she wouldn't get knocked over by the waves.

Emma with a mermaid fin

Love this little man

Pretty sweet sand castle, very fun to build

Just call me Tyra Banks. I'm so comfortable being photographed in my swim suit

Cutie Cousins

Jeff and Patricia and Emma

I totally forgot her swim suit, good thing She's a baby eh?

One other thing we did on our trip was go to Gainsville Florida. Besides BYU, Steve has a few other college football teams he likes and one of them is Florida. We visited their stadium which I even have to admit was cool. I've never seen any football stadium all ready for a game but totally empty. We got shooed out not much longer after we got there. It must have been a fluke to have one of the doors totally open. Good luck I guess.

The Magic Kingdom

We spent a full day at the magic kingdom and it didn't disappoint. The weather was breezy and mid 70's, The lines were fairly short. We started our day with Steve's brother Jeff and his little girl Emma. They live here so Disney isn't as big of a novelty. It's amazing what an ordeal even getting to the park is. and even on a November day in the middle of the week, how big the crowds were.

Uncle Jeff has been fantastic with Sam and Sophie. Sophie totally digs him. He gave Sam his Star Wars Legos game and has taught him to play it. He's never really played video games... we may have a little addict on our hands. He has been in heaven tough.

Meeting Minnie and Mickey!!

Sam was so pumped and had the sweetest little genuine grin and soph really liked them from a distance but when mickey tried to give her a hug, she gave him one of her best scowls. I played the role of keep Sophie from screaming and squirming while Dad got to go on most of the rides with Sam... I was only bitter while I was waiting for the ride to be done. Baby girl and I did some bonding too. She is the sweetest funniest crazy little thing. She loves babies so to keep her content, we would go baby spotting. when we found one she would burst into her little gleeful giggle and point and say "Beebee!" Her glee was heightened when at one point she made the realization that she too is a baby. She pats me and says "mama" and pats her little chest and says "Beebee"

Emma was fun to have around. She is going through a stage where she is scared of everything so Her dad had to convince her to go n rides by saying, "but this is baby Sophies favorite ride... This is baby Sophies 2nd favorite ride." By 3rd favorite... she grew a bit skeptical.

I really love that their expression is the same... and that they look equally as nervous

Jack sparrow

Sam and Steve Sparrow

Soph and I waited for the boys at the bottom of splash mountain and I caught them on tape... they obviously were oblivious to us spying on them

We got splash on a lot and Sophina loved it.

on "It's a Small World"

Mickeys house was decked out for Christmas... already.... My kind of Mouse

We stayed til Dark... I have mosquito bites to prove it, 17 to be exact. Sam had great energy all day and just ate it up. And we kept him well hydrated with sprite, which he loves. He decided his favorite ride was Splash Mountain. I'd have to agree little man. I wish we could make Disney a yearly thing. Such a great time.

Disney World, part Hollywood studios

So I just blogged about how to keep going to your favorite hairdresser, which unintentionally sounded like a plea for my readers to stay with me through this rocky economy... so if you were thinking, "I hope she is able to put food on the table" then were confused at me then posting about my fabulous Disney vacation.... I guess I understand your confusion. The good thing about this yuck economy is that there are deals of the century out there. For example, When steve-o was thrilled to find cheap airline tickets, his enthusiasm was heightened when at the check-out, there was a pop-up window from Delta, one-upping our purchase by 20 bucks and no lay-over. Thanks, crappy economy!

More Thanks are owed to Stevie's brother Jeff and his wife Patricia who have the Orlando hook-up.... Free park passes, house close to Disney, and they lent us a car for a week (which sophie puked in...sorry guys). I had thoughts of eating light while out here, but Patricia has had fabulous dinners of lasagna, homemade bread, and chocolate chip pancakes ready for us when we come home tired and hungry from a hard day of fun.

And one night we were able to repay them with food by taking advantage of my BIL Jt's hook-up. He is the manager at bonefish grill in Mississippi and called in "comp meal for us

One night we were able to repay them with food by taking advantage of my BIL's hook-up. JT is the Manger of a bonefish grill In Mississippi and called in a "comp" meal for us. SO yummy and such a nice restaurant.

Hollywood studios and home of Sammos highlight of the trip.....

....What could be keeping a 4year olds attention so intently?

buh buh buhm... a star wars show, complete with darth vader and everything

I waited in line for a good 40 minutes so Sam could go onstage and learn some Jedi skills and try to defeat Darth Vader. at the last minute, he decided that it wasn't such a great idea and we went somewhere else.

Lightning and Mater were a bit less intimidating

We opted not to wait in the line to meet donald and snuck a picture with me.

handy manny

We all loved the toy story ride