Star Wars Wars!

In the summertime all of the neighbor kids like to come over, all dressed up in whatever gear they can find and play Star Wars in the yard. Brett will even go out there and join the group - usually on his own team. Last Summer Alex was too little to play, but loved watching all of the action! This Winter, the kids are training him, so he will be ready to join the troops this Summer! Here are a few shots of last nights training exercises...

Definately His Daddy's Boy

We found Alex kicking back with one of his dad's drinks - A cold Mountain Dew. He just LOVES soda, but we definately do not give it to him very often. We have to limit the amount of juice he drinks also...if the fridge is open, he is pulling out all of the juice, saying "juice, juice."

Our Own Little "Yes Man"

I decided that sometimes our little two year old hears the word "NO" far too often. Today we were working on the word "YES." I spent lots of time this morning talking to him and praising him with the word "Yes," whenever he did something that was allowed. Then...when I was getting ready this morning, Alex decided that it would be great fun to flush the toilet...over and over and over. I tried redirection, and finally at my wits end said - "Alex, do you want mommy to spank you?" To which he nodded his head and said "Yes, Yes, Yes." I guess now we need to work on exactly what "Yes" means!

Cushing Christmas 2008

This 2008 Christmas the Cushing's went up to Oregon Country to visit Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Walt. I had not been home for Christmas in over 10 years, and this year, it was very busy at their house! Uncle Eric and Aunt Katie were coming in, Jon and Kate were living there, and Uncle David and Sarah live just down the street - so it would be a season full of family! I had all kinds of dreams of what we would do in the mild Oregon weather...hiking, maybe visit the Coast for a beachy Christmas, bike rides, ect, anything to escape the winter cold and snow. I was in for a wild ride, as this was the year that Oregon had it's worst ice storms in 40 (yep, that's right) years. We arrived at SLC International Airport and were delayed a little over an hour, but the kids were wonderful! Delta and crew were trying to decide whether or not they would be able to get the plane into PDX safely due to the current and impending weather - luckily, our plane was the last flight to get in, otherwise, I am not sure we would have made it! Uncle Eric and Aunt Katie came in a few days later, and it took them 8 hours to travel the 70 miles from Portland to Grandma's house in Salem! Can you believe it? Needless to say, it was a crazy start to a long week. Once we were safely unpacked and assigned rooms, (assigned due to the number of people that were and would be staying there for Christmas), we learned that Grandma Cindy had lots of activites planned.

Here are some of the things we did:
Made gingerbread houses
Took many dips in the hot tub (which was a real lifesaver during the times we were stir crazy)
Had a "live" Nativity
Cooked too much food
Ate entirely too much food
Watched the HBO series John Adams
Watched the snow fall - riveting, I know
Watched more snow fall
Saw Valkyrie - recommended, even if you don't like Tom Cruise
Saw Bedtime Stories - recommended for the little ones
Watched Colton play with his remote helicopter
Received real Olive Wood Nativities from Jerusalem - Awesome!
Shopped
Played racquetball and pool - activities that the boys enjoyed
Spent time with family

So, as you can see, we packed quite a few activites into this 7 day Christmas trip, and had a wonderful, if not chaotic time. It is always good to spend time with family, especially during this time of year!

Christmas Eve PJ's

Grandma Cindy thought it would be great to get all of the children matching pj's. She carefully picked out one's that she thought would look great on the kids for Christmas Eve. McKaleigh and Mallory looked so pretty in their pink jammy's, but the boys looked like jailbirds in their stripes! It was great to have them there...but we all felt we were missing 3 other cousins (Ellie, Ben, and Maggie).

The Nativity

Throughout the world over, during the Christmas season, you can usually find beautifully crafted Nativities. This year, just before Christmas, Grandma Cindy spent time with Uncle Dan and Sheri in Jerusalem. While she was there, she found these magnificent Nativities, made from real Olive Wood trees, and brought one back for each family. I suspect that the real event looked as reverent as this depicts, but I will agree with Aunt Katie... that the Myers nativity was a little less reverent, but fun, none the less!
Here is Brett, dressed up as one of the Wisemen. Uncle Eric thought he looked like the guy from the Burger King ads, and had to take a picture with him!
Here is our little family in there costumes for the program Grandma had planned. Brett and I were Wiseman/women, McKaleigh was Mary, Colton was a shepherd, and Alex played one of the sheep.
Mallory made a beautiful Angel!
Here is a shot from part of the story. Grandpa Walt read from the scriptures, and Aunt Katie used her mad piano skills to play during the reading and for some of the Christmas songs we sang.
Uncle Eric played the part of an olden day prophet.
Uncle Brian was also a Wiseman. What a happy participant!
Uncle David was Joseph, with McKaleigh playing a spot on Mary.
Grandma and Sarah were barn animals. Elliot was supposed to play an animal and tried on lots of costumes prior to the event, but was not wanting to wear his costume at showtime, so Grandma took over.
Here is Joseph hanging out with the camel.
And last, but not least, two more shepherds - Uncle Jon and Aunt Kate.

What to Do on a Snow Day?

We were able to find lots of things to do indoors! here are Uncle Eric, Aunt Katie and Elliot the taste tester dipping candy. They are making buckeye's, a family favorite! Can't you tell by the expression on Uncle Eric's face?
Grandma Cindy does not have many dolls, but Mal's made due with her wooden nesting dolls. She named the pink one...something Rose, and you had to call the doll by that name. The Gold doll was not her favorite, but would do in a pinch.
Colton got a Rubik's Cube from Santa, in his stocking, but maybe Santa should have brought one to Uncle David. We literally did not see him for 2 days, but due to his puzzling abilities he became a Rubik's Master and could solve it in a few minutes. He even drove up to Woodburn outlets to buy a 5x5 cube!
Here are the kids and dad trying out a new card game. I have to say, daddy was a trooper, up for anything!
Grandma Cindy got a new dice game called Spinners, and had to beg the kids to play it with her. It looks like once they got started, it was a good time had by all!
Here are some of the jacuzzi fans! Sometimes the kids got in twice a day! It was really fun to have that option, and so pretty to see the snow falling and steam rising from the water at the same time.
Here are some of the "big boys" getting in for a dip. They played some pretty tough games of racquetball and some fierce basketball games during the trip. I guess this was relaxing for their tired muscles!

Our little Alex spent quite alot of time with Grandpa Walt. If Grandpa was around, Alex was not far behind! Despite all of the hustle and bustle, he could usually get Grandpa to pick him up. Here a a few shots with the Old Guy...
Grandpa had so many phones and pagers that Alex was in heaven. Our little guy is a gadget kid, so he had a great time going from one electronic device to another...when we could not find Alex, he was usually hiding out in the room Grandma and Grandpa were staying in, with his computer, phone or pager!

Alex is receiving quite a tickle from Grandpa. He was always good for a game of chase or tickle.
Sometimes Grandpa and Alex would steal a few minutes by themselves. This was one of Alex's favorite activity buckets - filled with marbles, dice, old chess pieces, checkers and such.

Last Day in Oregon

Here we are, our last day in Oregon. Grandma Cindy had a party that night and invited 4 other families over for dessert, like we needed more food! From left to right, Uncle David and Sarah, Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Eric and Katie, Bri, Us, and Jon and Kate.
You can see everyone a little better in this shot! What a good looking family!