It's Christmas!

We can't believe how quickly Christmas arrived! Because of our unplanned trip to Utah, it seemed like the month of December flew by. I did most of the shopping in one day because that's the only time I had to do it! But everything got done and by Christmas Eve, it was time to wrap presents and get ready for the big day.

As usual, on Christmas Eve, the kids performed the traditional Madsen family Nativity re-enactment. Courtney played baby Jesus, Caitlin was the angel, Spencer took on the role of Joseph and Rachel reprised her role of Mary. Courtney was a pretty big baby Jesus (too big) and knocked the couch cushion manger down several times, keeping Mary busy reconstructing it over and over again. Halfway through Luke 2, Joseph started jumping from the back of the couch to the floor while the angel twirled around and sang to herself. I finally told Paul to stop reading before he got to the wise men because we ran out of kids for the available parts. Overall, the play was cute and memorable! Despite the chaos of it all, I hope it reminded the kids of the real reason for Christmas.

Christmas morning arrived a little too soon for Mommy and Daddy but the kids were thrilled with all their gifts and they spent the rest of their day unpackaging them, trying them out and on and hanging out with the family. I guess it makes all the work involved in shopping, wrapping and baking worth it in the end.

Courtney dances in her new tutu and tiara.

The children enthusiastically show off their first presents from Santa.

Spencer completes his first lego toy (I think it's a Star Wars tri-fighter) in record time.

Caitlin demonstrates her ballet prowess for the camera.

Paul models his new BYU hat while he peruses Rachel's wildlife book.

The girls play Trouble. We always play board games and put together puzzles on Christmas.

I look a little worn out and frazzled but at least my clothes are festive!

Merry Christmas from the Madsens

Merry Christmas, family and friends, it’s Christmas ’09.
As for the Madsens, we’re all doing fine!

Paul and Kerri enjoy parenting our crew.
At church, we are teachers: gospel doctrine, young women, too.
At work, Paul plugs away in HR.
Kerri runs the house and hauls kids in the car.

Rachel, age twelve, keeps us running like crazy!
She’s an academic genius; she certainly isn’t lazy.
She strokes hard on swim team, scores goals in soccer,
Shoots hoops, bows a beautiful violin, on piano she’s a rock star!

Spencer, age seven, began first grade this year.
He is learning his three R’s and gives us reasons to cheer.
This summer was his first year racing in the pool.
He also played soccer and thinks Legos are cool!

Caitlin and Courtney are preschoolers at age four.
They are cherished by all, their cuteness we adore.
They love swimming, dancing, swinging as high as the trees.
They are darling, energetic girls and are sure to please!

Now here are a few cute quotes by our kiddies this year
As you can see, we’re not the only funny ones around here.

When Spencer saw his new cousin Sam, he said, "Mom, he has no teeth." I mumbled something like "That's right, babies don't have teeth." Obviously he continued to be puzzled by this because later, he asked my sister, "How can he cry without any teeth?"

Spencer: "Last night, Daddy and I were watching baseball. It was the New York Hankies and they won.”

Caitlin dropped her English muffin on the floor. She picked it up, took a bite and said, "Mmm. The floor made it yummy!"

Paul: “Who's your favorite Book of Mormon prophet? Is it Nephi, Alma, Moroni?”Courtney: “It's Elmo.”

Paul: I wonder what Yoda's last name is. Makumoto? Hiroshima? Spencer: No, his last name is Duh. Yo-Duh!

Paul: "What are you going to name your dolly? How about Becky? Susan? (and on and on)" Courtney: Repeatedly answers "no, no, no" to each suggestion. Finally, she blurts out: "Her name is Healthy."

The week of Obama’s inauguration, Rachel asked, "Isn't it the ingration this week or something?" A few days later, I overheard Rachel tell her friend about the school assembly where they watched the "integration." I started giggling and she said, "What? I still can't remember the name of that thing!"

While playing house, Courtney came up to me and said, "You're Kerri, okay? That means Mommy in Spanish."

On the way to Utah, we had a layover in Minneapolis, Minnesota. During our final approach, Spencer asked, "Do they give you mini apples and mini soda there?"

A Final Goodbye to our Beloved Brother, Earl Madsen

Rachel with her best cousin, Lexie (Earl's youngest daughter)

We took a quick trip to Utah for Earl's funeral (Paul's brother). It was a very sad day for our family. We will miss Earl because we loved him dearly. We are grateful we are sealed as eternal families so that we can be together again someday. The funeral was beautiful. All the girls participated and Earl's wife, Nena, gave a beautiful talk about the plan of salvation. Earl was involved in the LDS music business and many of the artists that he worked with performed at the funeral and the graveside service. It was wonderful to see our family although we wish it wasn't for such an occasion.


Earl and Nena's family with Mom Madsen. Back row: Erin, Abby, Nena. Front row: Lauren, Mom, Anna and Lexie


Madsen siblings and their spouses with Mom Madsen. Back row: Clay (Lynda's husband), Paul, Kerri (Paul's wife), Dave, Heidi (Dave's wife), Greg, Laurel (Greg's wife), Carlos, Jo (Carlos's wife). Front row: Lynda, John, Nena (Earl's wife), Mom, Margaret and Gary (Margaret's husband). Missing: Annette (John's wife who was in England.)


Madsen Family at Earl's Funeral

A Tribute to Earl

This is a touching tribute to my brother-in-law, Earl, that was in The Deseret News this weekend. Several LDS artists shared their appreciation for Earl's friendship and his endeavors to bring people to Christ through the arts:

http://www.mormontimes.com/mormon_voices/nicole_sheahan/?id=12349&preview=1

Saturday was a busy day. First thing in the morning, we headed to our ward Christmas breakfast where the kids visited with Santa and participated in a nativity play. Rachel was a narrator, Spencer was a wise man, Caitlin and Courtney were sheep. It was a fun morning. Afterwards, we headed to Rachel's first basketball game of the season against Forks. Her team won! It was exciting to have Grandma and Grandpa there for both of those events. When we returned home, I dropped off the kids with their Grandparents and picked up Paul from the hospital. On the way home, he insisted that we stop at a couple of stores to look at dishwashers. We purchased one at Lowe's so now we're happy owners of a new dishwasher. When we got home, Grandpa and Paul (mostly directing) put up the Christmas tree and the kids decorated it.

This week has been an interesting one, to say the least. On Tuesday night, we discovered that Paul needed to be admitted to the hospital and have surgery to remove a bone infection in his foot. Paul called one of his brothers to lament about his surgery and discovered that his brother, Earl, was being lifeflighted on life support to a trauma center with a brain aneurysm. This put everything in perspective. Earl has a beautiful family. He and his wife Nena have five daughters. Lexie, their youngest, is the same age as Rachel and they are very close cousins.

Wednesday morning, after getting Rachel and Spencer on the bus, I took Caitlin and Courtney to their parent-child workshop at school where we assembled gingerbread houses. The girls had a wonderful time and did a great job. They were very pleased with themselves. When I returned home, we took Paul to the hospital so he could be on IV antibiotics for 24 hours before his surgery.

Thursday, Paul went through surgery and everything went extremely well. Thanks to my friend, Katherine, who watched my kids, I was able to spend the day with him at the hospital. That evening, our beloved brother, Earl, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his eternal family.

We were hoping Paul would be able to come home on Friday because it was Rachel's birthday. Unfortunately, that was not the case so we took her party to his hospital room. With all that was happening, I didn't think I would have time to make a cake so I bought one. But Rachel was disappointed because she likes my homemade cakes so much more and wanted an orange flavored cake so I broke down and made her one as well. We took the store bought one to the hospital (easiest to transport) and kept the other one for the surprise that came later. When she got home from school, Rachel asked me if her grandparents' present had arrived because her Grandma promised it would be there on her birthday. I told her packages could come as late as 9 p.m. so she shouldn't worry. After we got home from the hospital that evening, the package arrived. . . but it was actually my parents who flew in to surprise Rachel for her birthday. None of the kids had any idea they were coming and they were all so excited! About ten minutes later, we saw flames coming from the dishwasher and discovered that it was on fire. After multiple attempts to stop the fire, I finally called the police department and they were able to safely remove the dishwasher. What an exciting end to a very crazy week. When I asked Rachel what she thought about her birthday, she said, "This will be a VERY long journal entry."


Courtney proudly displays her gingerbread house


Caitlin's is sure adorable!


Celebrating Rachel's birthday at the hospital with Daddy

There's our birthday girl! I can't believe she's 12 years old!

Now she's officially old enough to babysit her little sisters! Yes!

Opening her presents!


Grandma and Grandpa surprise Rachel with a visit on her birthday!

\ Blowing out her candles on her birthday cake

Her wishes will come true!

The next surprise brings the firetruck--the dishwasher is on fire!

Here they are, our heroes who save the day!

Let's get this burning dishwasher out of here!

From green grass to a winter wonderland!

The morning started with green grass and our trampoline in the neighbor's yard after it knocked down part of our fence and the fence around their pool equipment.


We had some friends help us remove it from their yard. And it's a good thing we got it done because by the afternoon, the yard looked a bit different!


Welcome to our winter wonderland!


The girls ran outside to savor the first packing snow of the season. Courtney seems to be enjoying herself.


Caitlin looks like a little snow bunny.


Rachel looks lovely in white!


Spencer didn't get home from his friend's birthday party until late but he was a huge help shoveling the driveway. I love it when my kids are old enough to actually help me with the chores! We also got in a little snowball fight once we were done!

I am not as spry as I was when I was Rachel's age. . .

On Friday, we spent the day with Aaron and Camille playing cards and watching the final Dancing with the Stars competition (a little late but it was the first time we had a chance to do it.) That afternoon, Spencer was invited to go ice skating for the first time with his friend, Liam. He fell a bunch of times but overall, had a great time and wants to go again really soon. When I told Rachel that Spencer was going ice skating, she pestered me until I finally agreed to take her that evening. We invited my friend, Laura, and her two girls to go with us. It took a few minutes to get used to skating again but it was as exhilarating as it always is. I fell down a couple of times on the rough ice (of course, it has nothing to do with my skating.) The last time, I hurt my shoulder a bit. My body doesn't recover as well as it used to these days. Oh well! We had a great time, despite our slips and slides!

Looking like a little ice princess

Getting used to the ice

Now she's skating!

Posing with best friend, Lauren

They're gliding around easily now!

I'm not the only one who fell down! Oops-a-daisy!

Thanksgiving Fun!

We enjoyed spending Thanksgiving with our niece, Camille, and her fiance, Aaron, along with my cousin James and his cute wife Amy and their darling three kids. It was a wonderful day.

All All ready for our guests! I meant to take a picture with everyone at the table but I forgot!


Spencer and Tyler play together after dinner


Levi enjoys running around the house with the other kids


Courtney dishes up her dessert!


Amy samples some pumpkin pie


James joins the other men in their annual Thanksgiving ritual: watching football games after the big meal.

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Paul adds color commentary to the football game.


Camille and Aaron--the cute couple soon to be married!


Check out the size of Courtney's fork! She must really love the pie!



Rachel and Emma relax after dinner.