I haven't been posting this week because nothing much has been going on! Just life. Life that is busy and loud and crazy but so far this week not too interesting!  

I did have a funny conversation with Ariana this morning that made me laugh. The whole family was at the table this morning and Ariana screamed, "I'm turning brown! 

"What?" I said chuckling.

"I am turning brown!" she repeated as she looked at her hands with a look of anguish that only Ari can do!

Ammon pipes up, "That's okay I am brown too."

She didn't look convinced so I told her that Daddy was brown and very cute!

"I want to be white like you!" Ari said!

"No you don't! Your have beautiful brown skin just like Ammon, Daddy and Kalixta!"

She was starting to look like she might be okay with being brown so I told her again that she has beautiful brown skin just like her Daddy! Now she has a big smile on her face and loves being brown!!

Oh, how I love this beautiful, brown sweetheart!
 

I picked my sister Marie up from the airport a few days after Christmas so I used the opportunity to go to see the lights at the Salt Lake Temple. It was waaaay cold so I only took Nik! 

The lights were beautiful! 

I read in the Friend magazine that there are 75,000 individual lights on just one tree! Amazing!!

We didn't stay too long because it was very crowded and well, very cold, but it was worth the trip! 

Dress up is a game we play all the time! We have a big dress up box that has lots of different costumes in it. Given all this it was just a matter of time before Tori got "dressed up." I was surprised that it was Ammon who did it and that instead of dress up clothes he used his own clothes. He sent Tori into the living room wearing his shirt!

Yes it is on backwards but that made it even cuter!

Tori came out and all the kids started laughing so she started laughing which made everyone else laugh harder which made her laugh harder! It was so funny to watch! 

The kids tried three shirts on her before taking her downstairs to try Nik's clothes on her! I didn't go down so someone else took the pictures! They aren't the best but they are good enough!

The Christmas tree is down along with all the rest of the decorations! It was fun taking everything down and remembering who or where it came from.We got lots of new ornaments this year! We received cute ornaments from sweet friends and funny elves! My Aunt Audrey sent one to each of the kids. But my favorite ones come from the kids! All the school age kids but Nik gave Adam and I ornaments this year!

Ammon's 

He made this one at scouts with me so it is only Dad's!

Kalixta's

Britain's

Zoe's
 

Zoe turns 10 today! She brings so much laughter and tears to our home. Zoe loves to laugh and make others laugh! I can't imagine life with out my quirky girl! We celebrated her birthday yesterday by having her favorite meal, Orange Chicken, cake and ice cream and presents! She got lots of clothes so she was in heaven!

Grandma gave her this little piggy and she LOVES it! It just might be her favorite gift!

I made her a ribbon board that she is pretty excited about!

She had to blow hard to get all those candles out!

What better cake for a 10 year old than one with 10 layers?!! I made my first cake from scratch! It turned out good but did look better than it tasted with all those layers!

With all those new clothes we had to have a fashion show! She has really been practicing her poses, walk, and funny faces so it was quite the show!

We had a number of guest appearances too! There was a cute baby alligator that crawled down the runway!

The Hulk came!

Karate kid!

Hannah Montana!

A crazy girl!

And last but certainly not least, Santa Claus!

He got a lot of sun while vacationing in Hawaii and he shaved while there! Lucky Jordan sat on his lap and told him what he wants next Christmas!
 

Happy happy birthday Zoe!!! I am so very proud on you and love you very much!!!!

We went sledding on New Year's Day with the Lovstedt Family! I love sledding and we had so much fun! Tori was great, she likes being outside and doesn't mind the cold. She was in a weird mood when we first got there and looked like she was in some kind of trance!

She snapped out of it and enjoyed going down the hill! 

Crawling up the hill because Mommy wouldn't carry her up!

Ariana has the best big brother ever!! Nik took her down several times and always made sure she made it up, that meant pulling her up most of the time!

Trudging up the hill!

The kids like to find new ways to sled! They really went down like this a few times and laughed the whole time!

This was another way they go down.

Um, at least it is not yellow, right?

 Happy sledding times!

We had so so so much fun New Year's Eve. We had our good friends over to party!! I love having a noisey full house! All we did was eat and talk but it really was the best! We had seventeen kids here 12 years old and under!

We had poppers and apple cider at midnight and made lots of noise.

Tori stayed up to ring in the new year! She played for an hour in streamers and confetti!

Zoe loved playing in the streamers too!

Britain now has a new collection!

Nik went to sleep at 11:00 and was rudely awaken by three kids to celebrate the new year! 

Ariana didn't make it! She fell asleep in Bro. J's lap!

Kalixta and Ammon didn't make it either. 

The Basua Family wishes you all a very Happy New Year!!!!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The most delicious tradition we have on Christmas Eve is Tamales! They are a must have for dinner. Adam's family has been doing it forever. I have been making tamales for 10 years now! Adam's Mom taught me the first Christmas I was married! This year I started teaching the kids how to make them! They all had fun for about 10 minutes and then wanted to do something else!

Kalixta worked the hardest by far!

 
Zoe hated putting the masa on but loved filling and rolling the tamales up!

When I went to the Mexican market to buy the masa a women asked me who was making the tamales. When I told her I was she was shocked that this white girl could make tamales. The whole conversation still makes me laugh!
 
 
 
 
 

Our Christmas was wonderful! I have never felt so loved. Christmas was not extravagant or unusual but it was fantastic!

Santa brought Ammon, Nik and Adam remote control cars. They love them and have spent hours playing with them! 

They made a track in the garage to race them on!

Santa brought Britain, Kalixta, Ariana and Tori a box FULL of coloring stuff. Crayons, stickers, colored pencils, paper and coloring books! They are in heaven!

He was sure to bring each of them their own coloring books so that there would be NO fighting! Isn't Santa so smart?!

Zoe got a video journal from Santa! She is loving it. She has taken tons of pictures and videos and is putting them in her digital journal. She might be ready to have her own blog!!

My Mom made each of the kids an apron! They are so cute and the kids (especially the girls) love them! I just ask who wants to wear their aprons and the whole house gets cleaned and I have lots of help making any meal!

Ammon's has his name on it! That is the coolest part!
 

Yes even Tori got one AND she loves it! Well I do at least!!

Britain got lots of fun stuff and yummy treats! The glitter ball is a favorite as well as her new Littlest Pet Shop pets!

She got a new shirt that is perfect for her!

Kalixta loves all the treats Santa brought her especially her cereal!

Kalixta's shirt says Free Bear Hugs which is perfect for her because she gives some of the best hugs ever!

Ariana could have opened one gift and been happy. I had to keep telling her now this one, open this one!

She loves the new pets she got and her glitter ball is amazing! She got two pairs of jammies that I have to force her not to wear!

Ammon loves playing Trouble and beating everyone! He also got a remote control UFO and a sling shot! The sling shot was from our wonderful neighbors. They bought something for each of the kids.

Nik got a UFO and a sling shot too. He is enjoying playing Battleship with Adam or anyone else that will play with him! You can tell he loves his pj top!

Zoe got the one thing she really wanted boots! She loves them and barely takes them off. She loves playing with her glitter ball and her game is fun for the whole family!

She got a Peace shirt too that is the best! She hasn't taken it off since Christmas!

My little Tor Tor got lots of shiny necklaces that have provide hours of fun! 

She got a beautiful new dress too!

Zoe made me a ribbon clip holder! So cute!

Adam got an awesome gift that went right up onto our wall!

 We had a wonderful Christmas! Thanks to all you made is so amazing!!! 

We have lots of fun traditions on Christmas Eve. One of them is new Christmas jammies. My Mom gets the kids a new set of jammies to wear to bed so they are super cute in the morning. Zoe has been looking forward to opening her pj's all week. All day long the kids wanted to get ready for bed!